DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN INDIA
Ministry of Home Affairs Government of India c Disaster Management in India e
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The perception about disaster and its management has undergone a change following the enactment of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The definition of disaster is now all encompassing, which includes not only the events emanating from natural and man-made causes, but even those events which are caused by accident or negligence. There was a long felt need to capture information about all such events occurring across the sectors and efforts made to mitigate them in the country and to collate them at one place in a global perspective. This book has been an effort towards realising this thought. This book in the present format is the outcome of the in-house compilation and analysis of information relating to disasters and their management gathered from different sources (domestic as well as the UN and other such agencies). All the three Directors in the Disaster Management Division, namely Shri J.P. Misra, Shri Dev Kumar and Shri Sanjay Agarwal have contributed inputs to this Book relating to their sectors. Support extended by Prof. Santosh Kumar, Shri R.K. Mall, former faculty and Shri Arun Sahdeo from NIDM have been very valuable in preparing an overview of the book. This book would have been impossible without the active support, suggestions and inputs of Dr. J. Radhakrishnan, Assistant Country Director (DM Unit), UNDP, New Delhi and the members of the UNDP Disaster Management Team including Shri Arvind Sinha, Consultant, UNDP. Support was extended by all the concerned ministries who provided the data that has been used in compiling this book. We sincerely acknowledge the organisations and the individuals whose photographs, figures and tables have been used in the presentation of this book for highlighting the issues concerned. While compiling disaster issues across the sectors, for the first time, with substantial information pertaining to other nodal ministries dealing with the subject, the chances of errors creeping in, is not ruled out. There would always be scope of improvement in the accuracy of material and analysis of facts. It is, however, expected that in the days to come, on the base prepared, this will be further improved upon, following the suggestions received from the end users. In producing this document, the cooperation extended by colleagues from different ministries/ departments and Government agencies is acknowledged. Without the consistent guidance and support extended by Shri G.K. Pillai, Union Home Secretary and Shri A.E. Ahmad, Secretary (Border Management) it would not have been possible to prepare this document.
R. K. Srivastava Joint Secretary Ministry of Home Affairs Government of India
Contents
Chapter 1: Disasters in India - An Overview 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Etymology 1 1.3 Definition 1 1.4 Disasters not new to Mankind 1 1.5 Database 2 1.6 Disasters – Global Scenario 4 1.7 Vulnerability Profile of India 11 1.8 Climate Profile 14 1.9 Cause and Effect of Disasters 16 1.10 Droughts 17 1.11 Floods 18 1.12 Tropical Cyclones 21 1.13 Heat Wave 23 1.14 Cold Wave and Fog 25 1.15 Thunderstorm, Hailstorm and Dust Storm 26 1.16 Earthquakes 26 1.17 Landslides 29 1.18 Industrial and Chemical Disasters 30 1.19 Tsunami 32 1.20 Stampede 39 1.21 Nuclear Emergencies 40 1.22 Road Accidents 41 1.23 Rail Accidents 44 1.24 Air Accidents 45 1.25 Mine Disasters 46 1.26 Epidemics in India 49 1.27 Deaths due to Unnatural Cause 50 1.28 Conclusion 53
i Disaster Management in India
Chapter 2: Institutional Framework 2.1 Evolution of Disaster Management in India 55 2.2 Disaster Management during British Administration and Post Independence 55 2.3 Emergence of Institutional Arrangement in India 55 2.4 Organisation and Structure of Disaster Management 55 2.5 Disaster Management Framework 55 2.6 Present Structure for Disaster Management in India 56 2.7 Disaster Management Act, 2005 57 2.8 National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) 57 2.9 National Executive Committee (NEC) 59 2.10 State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) 59 2.11 State Executive Committee (SEC) 59 2.12 District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) 59 2.13 Institutional Framework for Metropolitan Cities 60 2.14 Hierarchical Structure of Authority and Committee 60 2.15 National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) 60 2.16. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) 63 2.17 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) 64 2.18 Civil Defence 64 2.19 Fire Services 66 2.20 National Civil Defence College (NCDC), Nagpur 67 2.21 National Fire Service College (NFSC), Nagpur 67 2.22 Home Guard 68 2.23 Interface between the Ministries for Disaster Management 68 Chapter 3: Policy and Guidelines 3.1 Introduction 71 3.2 National Policy on Disaster Management (NPDM) 71 3.3 National Plan on Disaster Management 71 3.4 Focus and Objectives of Guidelines 73 3.5 Management of Droughts 76 3.6 National Action Plan on Climate Change 77 3.7 Rules notified under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 77 3.8 Conclusion 79
ii Chapter 4: Prevention and Mitigation 4.1 Introduction 81 4.2 Mainstreaming of Disaster Risk Reduction in Developmental Strategy 81 4.3 National Disaster Mitigation Fund 83 4.5 Earthquakes 83 4.6 Cyclones 87 4.7 Floods 88 4.8 Study of Land Contour by Geological Survey of India (GSI) 90 4.9 Landslides 91 4.10 Tsunami 92 4.11 Droughts 92 4.12 Fire 93 4.13 Forest Fire Management 96 4.14 Oil Industry 96 4.15 Chemical Disasters 96 4.16 Prevention of Disasters in Mines 96 4.17 Epidemics 97 4.18 Measures taken for Rail Safety 98 4.19 Road 100 4.20 Civil Aviation 101 4.21 Conclusion 101 Chapter 5: Preparedness and Response 5.1 Introduction 103 5.2 Institutional Arrangements 103 5.3 India Meteorological Department (IMD) 104 5.4 Forecast of Rainfall 104 5.5 Forecasting System - Background 105 5.6 Forecasting and Warning of Cyclones 106 5.7 Flood Forecasting – Central Water Commission 107 5.8 Tsunami warning – Indian National Centre for Oceanic Information System (INCOIS) 108 5.9 Warning about Landslide hazard – Geological Survey of India (GSI) 108 5.10 Avalanche warning – Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) 109 5.11 Disaster Management Support (DMS) – Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) 109
iii Disaster Management in India
5.12 Radiological and Nuclear Emergencies 110 5.13 Installation of Radiological Detection Equipment 111 5.14 Director General of Mines Safety 111 5.15 Epidemic 112 5.16 Preparedness 112 5.17 Trigger Mechanism 113 5.18 Crisis Management Plan (CMP) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) 113 5.19 Role and responsibility of Central and State Governments 113 5.20 Inter Agency Co-ordination Mechanism 114 5.21. Cabinet Committee on Management of Natural Calamities 114 5.22 National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) 114 5.23 Crisis Management Group (CMG)/National Executive Committee 114 5.24 Role of the State Government 116 5.25 State Crisis Management Group (SCMG) 116 5.26 Role of District Administration 116 5.27 Role of Sub-district Administration 117 5.28 National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) 117 5.29 State Control Room 118 5.30 District Control Room 118 5.31 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) 118 5.32 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) 120 5.33 Policy for acceptance of External Assistance 120 5.34 Drought Relief Measures 121 5.35 Conclusion 123 Chapter 6: Recovery, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation 6.1 Background 125 6.2 Nature of Recovery 125 6.3 Guiding Principles for Post- Recovery 125 6.4 Assessment 126 6.5 Co-ordination 126 6.6 Shelter 126 6.7 Sustainability in Recovery Process 126 6.8 Accountability 127 6.9 Evaluation 127
iv 6.10 Guidance notes on Recovery 127 6.11 Some Indian experiences in Recovery in the last two decades 127 6.12 Bhopal Gas Tragedy (1984) 127 6.13 Kutch Earthquake (2001) 129 6.14 Tsunami (2004) 131 6.15 Kosi Calamity (2008) 135 6.16 Leh Cloudburst (2010) 137 6.17 Mayapuri Radiation Exposure Delhi-2010 140 6.18 Conclusion 141 Chapter 7: Capacity Development 7.1 An Overview 143 7.2 Definition 143 7.3 Approach 144 7.4 National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) 145 7.5 National Disaster Management Authority 146 7.6 Disaster Management Centres in the States 149 7.7 Training of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) 151 7.8 Incident Response System (IRS) 154 7.9 National Civil Defence College (NCDC), Nagpur 155 7.10 National Fire Service College (NFSC), Nagpur 158 7.11 Ministry of Human Resource Development: 159 7.12 Ministry of Panchayati Raj & Rural Development 160 7.13 Conclusions 161 Chapter 8: Financial Arrangements 8.1 Financing the Relief Expenditure 163 8.2 Recommendation of 13th Finance Commission 163 8.3 National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) 164 8.4 Monitoring of Expenditure from Relief Funds 165 8.5 Disaster Response Reserve 165 8.6 Capacity Building Grant 165 8.7 Revamping of Fire Services 166 8.8 Environmental Relief Fund 167 8.9 Plan Schemes 169 8.10 Non-Plan Schemes 171
v Disaster Management in India
8.11 Externally Aided Schemes 171 8.12 Items and Norms of Assistance for Relief from NDRF and SDRF 173 8.13 Conclusion 173 Chapter 9: International Cooperation 9.1 Overview 175 9.2 Hyogo Framework of Action 175 9.3 Agencies of United Nations involved in Disaster Management 176 9.4 United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) 177 9.5 United Nation Disaster Management Team (UNDMT) 178 9.6 United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) 178 9.7 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) 179 9.8 International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) 180 9.9 Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction (GFDRR) 181 9.10 ASEAN Region Forum (ARF) 181 9.11 Asian Disaster Reduction Centre (ADRC) 182 9.12 Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) 184 9.13 SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC) 184 9.14 India’s engagement with external agencies on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR): 187 9.15 United Nation’s Development Programme (UNDP) 187 9.16 Program for Enhancement of Emergency Response (PEER) 189 9.17 United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – Assisted Disaster Management (DMS) Support Project 190 9.18 INDO-SWISS Agreement 191 9.19 Indo-Russian Agreement in the field of Emergency Management 191 9.20 Third Trilateral meeting of experts of India- Russia and China 192 9.21 Asian Minister Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) 192 9.22 Conclusion 193 Chapter 10: The Way Forward 10.1 Background 195 10.2 Recent Initiatives 195 10.3 List of Suggested Sectors 195 10.4 Developing a Centralised Database 196 10.5 Early warning systems and communication and connectivity upto the last mile 196 10.6 Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) 196
vi 10.7 Mitigation Plans and Mainstreaming Disaster Management into the Development Planning Process 196 10.8 Strengthening the Preparedness Phase 197 10.9 Capacity Building Plan 200 10.10 National, State and District level Response Plan 200 10.11 Corporate Social Responsibility 200 10.12 Integrating Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction 201 10.13 Conclusion 201 Glossary 202 Footnotes 208 References 209 Abbreviations and Acronyms 210 Tables, Boxes and Figures 220 Important Telephone Numbers Disaster Management Division, MHA 224 National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) 224 Members/Alternate Members of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) 225 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) 226 NDRF Battalions 226 National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) 227 Nodal/Alternate officers of Central nodal Ministries/Departments 227 Forecasting agencies 229 Chief Secretaries (CS) and Relief Commissioners (RC) of States/UTs as on 09/05/11 230
vii Disasters in India - An Overview 1.1 Introduction 1.1.1 India’s geo-climatic conditions as well as its high degree of socio-economic vulnerability, makes it one of the most disaster prone country in the world. A disaster is an extreme disruption of the functioning of a society that causes widespread human, material, or environmental losses that exceed the ability of the affected society to cope with its own resources. Disasters are sometimes classified according to whether they are “natural” disasters, or “human-made” disasters. For example, disasters caused by floods, droughts, tidal waves and earth tremors are generally considered “natural disasters.” Disasters caused by chemical or industrial accidents, environmental pollution, transport accidents and political unrest are classified as “human-made” or “human- induced” disasters since they are the direct result of human action. 1.1.2 A more modern and social understanding of disasters, however, views this distinction as artificial since most disasters result from the action or inaction of people and their social and economic structures. This happens by people living in ways that degrade their environment, developing and over populating urban centres, or creating and perpetuating social and economic systems. Communities and population settled in areas susceptible to the impact of a raging river or the violent tremors of the earth are placed in situations of high vulnerability because of their socio-economic conditions. This is compounded by every aspect of nature being subject to seasonal, annual and sudden fluctuations and also due to the unpredictability of the timing, frequency and magnitude of occurrence of the disasters. 1.2 Etymology The word ‘Disaster’ derives from Middle French désastre1 and that from Old Italian disastro, which in turn comes from the Greek pejorative prefixδυσ- , (dus-) “bad”+ Dστήρ (aster), “star”. The root of the word disaster2 (“bad star” in Greek and Latin) comes from an astrological theme in which the ancients used to refer to the destruction or deconstruction of a star as a disaster. 1.3 Definition 1.3.1 Disaster is an event or series of events, which gives rise to casualties and damage or loss of properties, infrastructures, environment, essential services or means of livelihood on such a scale which is beyond the normal capacity of the affected community to cope with. Disaster is also sometimes described as a “catastrophic situation in which the normal pattern of life or eco-system has been disrupted and extra-ordinary emergency interventions are required to save and preserve lives and or the environment”. 1.3.2 The Disaster Management Act, 2005 defines disaster as“a catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man made causes, or by accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of, property, or damage to, or degradation of, environment, and is of such a nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area”. 1.3.3 The United Nations defines disaster as “the occurrence of sudden or major misfortune which disrupts the basic fabric and normal functioning of the society or community”. 1.4 Disasters not new to Mankind 1.4.1 Disasters are not new to mankind. They have been the constant, though inconvenient, companions of the human beings since time immemorial. Disasters can be natural or human- made. Earthquake, cyclone, hailstorm, cloud-burst, landslide, soil erosion, snow avalanche,
1 Disaster Management in India flood etc. are the examples of natural disasters while fire, epidemics, road, air, rail accidents and leakages of chemicals/ nuclear installations etc. fall under the category of human-made disasters. The High Power Committee on Disaster Management, constituted in 1999, has identified 31 various disasters categorized into five major sub-groups which are given in Box 1.1.
Box 1.1: List of various Disasters i. Water and climate related a) Floods and drainage management disasters b) Cyclones c) Tornadoes and hurricanes d) Hailstorm e) Cloud burst f) Heat wave and cold wave g) Snow avalanches h) Droughts i) Sea erosion j) Thunder and lightening k) Tsunami ii. Geological related disasters a) Landslides and mudflows b) Earthquakes c) Dam failures/ Dam bursts d) Minor fires iii. Chemical, industrial and nuclear a) Chemical and industrial disasters related disasters b) Nuclear disasters iv. Accident related disasters a) Forest fires b) Urban fires c) Mine flooding d) Oil spills e) Major building collapse f) Serial bomb blasts g) Festival related disasters h) Electrical disasters and fires i) Air, road and rail accidents j) Boat capsizing k) Village fire v. Biological related disasters a) Biological disasters and epidemics b) Pest attacks c) Cattle epidemics d) Food poisoning
Source: High Powered Committee Report-1999 Note: After 2004, Tsunami has also been included in the list of disasters.
1.5 Database The mechanism for preparing a database for different kinds of disasters happening across the country is yet to be developed. National Institute for Disaster Management (NIDM), under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 has been tasked with research work and it is expected that it would develop a mechanism to capture such data on the disasters including its impact on socio- economic life of the nation and GDP growth. At the global level, the three main sources which have been collecting the data are EM-DAT, Natcat and Sigma. EM-DAT is the acronym for data that the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology on Disasters (CRED) has been collecting from the
2 An Overview countries since 1987 (going back to 1900). Munich Reinsurance Company maintains Natcat and Swiss Reinsurance Company maintains Sigma. The authenticity of the data collected by these agencies varies and the figures given by them do not necessarily attest to any comprehensive data and may be exaggerated sometimes which was realized in the case of the report given in respect of 1999 landslides in Venezuela3. 1.5.1 Lack of Central Statistical database as a record of past disasters is a major constraint for risk assessment and compilation of disaster history in the country. Different sources of data have different figures of casualties and impacts, thereby hindering an objective assessment. Scientific data on major hazards are available but information on vulnerabilities are scattered in multiple places and often such data are not available uniformly for the entire country. 1.5.2 Disaster information available from different sources are yet to be regularly assessed by common public as well as other stakeholders. Lack of awareness about available resources is a reason for lack of last mile reach of the available information. 1.5.3 In India, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation have taken initiatives for collection of data in respect of different disasters. A Technical Committee was constituted by the Central Statistics Office with a view to prepare a framework for disaster statistics for developing a database on disaster and related aspects. Five formats have been developed for capturing the information about (i) Statistics on disaster at district level, (ii) Statistics on relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction at district level, (iii) District wise compilation of statistics on disaster, (iv) District- wise compilation of statistics on relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction and (v) Aggregation of damage and relief data at state level. The state Government and District level institutions would be required to furnish this information for preparing the data base at centralized level.
Figure 1.1: Regional Distributions of Disasters by Type
Regional distribution of disasters by type 1991 - 2005
World distribution of disasters by type 6% 3% 6% 14% 1991 - 2005 20% Europe Volcano E arthquake & Tsunami 2% 8% 8% E pidemic 3% 40% 13% Asia 1% 10% 4% 3% Insect Infestation 13% 1% Americas 34% Wind Storm 3% 6% 5% 4% 6% 25% Drought Africa 6% 1% 14% 30% 38% 26% 2% 7% E xtreme temperature 33% 4% 34% 7% 5% 3% 9% 1% 1% 5% 5% 1% 6% 2% Oceania 6% 20% WildFire 4%
Slide Flood 4% 32% 5% 5% Drought Epidemic Extreme temperature 46% Flood Slide Earthquake & tsunami Wind storm Volcano Insect infestation Wild fire
1532 Regional distribution of natural disasters by origin 1991 - 2005 581
World distribution of disasters by origin 1991 - 2005 1072 44 42
Geological 10% Europe 607
393 298 199
Biological 14% 114 31 76 Asia Africa 184 Americas 24 13
Hydrometeorological Oceania 76% Hydrometeorological Geological Biological
Source: Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disaster
3 Disaster Management in India
1.6. Disasters – Global Scenario4 1.6.1 Disasters - natural or human-made are common throughout the world. Disasters continue to occur without warning and are perceived to be on an increase in their magnitude, complexity, frequency and economic impact. Hazards pose threats to people and assume serious proportions in the under developed countries with dense population. During the second half of the 20th century, more than 200 worst natural disasters occurred in the different parts of the world and claimed lives of around 1.4 million people. Losses due to natural disasters are 20 times greater (as % of GDP) in the developing countries than in industrialized one. Asia tops the list of casualties due to natural disasters. Figure 1.1 shows the Regional distribution of disasters by type, as prepared by Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disaster. 1.6.2 There have been several natural, as well as, man-made disasters. Records of natural disasters can be traced way back to 430 B.C. when the Typhus epidemic was reported in Athens. Ten deadliest natural disasters recorded in the world are dated back to 1556 when an earthquake in Shaanxi province of China occurred on 23rd January, 1556 and 8,30,000 casualties were recorded. List of ten deadliest disasters which have occurred across the world and in India in the known history and in the last century may be seen from the Table 1.1 and Table 1.2 respectively. Table 1.1: World’s Deadliest Disasters Sl. Name of Event Year Country and Region Fatalities No. In the Known History 1. Earthquake 1556 China, Shaanxi 830000 2. Earthquake 1731 China 100,000 3. Cyclone 1737 India, Calcutta 300000 4. Yellow River flood 1887 China 900,000–2,000,000 5. Messina Earthquake 1908 Italy 123000 6. Earthquake 1920 China, Gansu 235000 7. Great Kanto 1923 Japan 142,000 Earthquake 8. Great Chinese Famine 1958-1961 China 15,000,000–43,000,000 9. Bhola Cyclone 1970 West Bengal, India & 500,000 East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) 10. Tangshan Earthquake 1976 China 242,419 In the Last Century 1. China Floods, 1931 China 1,000,000–2,500,000 2. Floods 1954 China 40,000 3. Cyclone 1970 Bangladesh, Chittagong, 300,000 Khulna
4. Bangladesh Cyclone, 1991 Bangladesh 139,000
5. Earthquake 1999 Turkey 17,000
6. Tsunami 2004 Indonesia, Sri Lanka, 230,210 India, Malaysia, Somalia, Bangladesh, Thailand
4 An Overview
Sl. Name of Event Year Country and Region Fatalities No. 7. Hurricane Katrina 2005 United States of America 1,836 8. Sichuan Earthquake 2008 China 87476 deaths including missing 9. Cyclone Nargis 2008 Myanmar More than 138,000 deaths 10. Haiti Earthquake 2010 Haiti 316,000
Topics 2000, Natural Catastrophes-the current position, Special Millennium Issue, Munich Re Group, 1999 Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) EM-DAT, Belgium
Table: 1.2: India’s Deadliest Disasters Sl. Name of Event Year State & Area Fatalities No. In the Known History 1. Earthquake 1618 Mumbai, 2,000 deaths Maharashtra 2. Bengal Earthquake 1737 Bengal 300, 000 deaths 3. Cyclone 1864 Kolkata, West 60,000 deaths Bengal 4. The Great Famine 1876- Southern India 58.5 million people affected 1878 5.5 million deaths due to starvation 5. Cyclone 1882 Bombay, 100,000 deaths Maharashtra 6. The Indian famine 1896- Whole India 1.25 million to 10 million deaths 1897 7 Earthquake 1934 Bihar 6,000 deaths 8 Bhola Cyclone 1970 West Bengal 500,000 deaths (including Hindu Kush Himalayas and surrounding areas) 9 Drought 1972 Large part of the 200 million people affected country 10 Drought 1987 Haryana 300 million people affected In the Last Century 1 Earthquake 1905 Kangra, Himachal 20,000 deaths Pradesh 2 Cyclone 1977 Andhra Pradesh 10,000 deaths hundreds of thousands homeless 40,000 cattle deaths. Destroyed 40% of India’s food grains. 3 Latur Earthquake 1993 Latur, Marthawada, 7,928 people died and another 30,000 region of the were injured. Maharashtra 4 Orissa Super Cyclone 1999 Orissa 10,000 deaths 5 Gujarat Earthquake 2001 Bhuj, Bachau, Anjar, 25,000 deaths Ahmedabad, and 6.3 million people affected Surat in Gujarat State
5 Disaster Management in India
Sl. Name of Event Year State & Area Fatalities No. 6 Tsunami 2004 coastline of Tamil 10,749 deaths Nadu, Kerala, 5,640 persons missing Andhra Pradesh and 2.79 million people affected Pondicherry, as well 11,827 hectares of crops damaged as the Andaman and 300,000 fisher folk lost their Nicobar Islands of livelihoods India 7 Maharashtra floods July 2005 Maharashtra State 1094 deaths 167 Injured 54 Missing 8 Kashmir Earthquake 2005 Kashmir State 86000 deaths (includes Kashmir & surrounding Himalayan region) 9 Kosi Floods 2008 North Bihar 527 Deaths 19323 Livestock perished 222754 Houses damaged 3329423 persons affected 10 Cyclone Nisha 2008 Tamil Nadu 204 deaths $800 million worth damages Topics 2000, Natural Catastrophes-the current position, Special Millennium Issue, Munich Re Group, 1999 Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) EM-DAT, Belgium Figure 1.2 and 1.3 shows the vulnerability scenario across the globe in terms of events and India has faced more than 260 events of disasters and over 3.5 million people affected from 1975 - 2001. It further analyses that the vulnerability of people and severity of disasters.
Figure 1.2: Global Disaster Scenario: Distribution of Natural Disasters
6 An Overview
Figure 1.3: Distribution of People Affected
1.6.3 Disaster events which have occurred between 1900-2009 may be further categorized based on hydro meteorological, geological and biological reasons. This may be seen in Table 1.3.
Table 1.3: Events of Disasters globally between 1900 - 2009
Disaster Types Decades 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Total -09 -19 -29 -39 -49 -59 -69 -79 -89 -99 -09 Hydro meteorological 28 72 56 72 120 232 463 776 1498 2034 3529 8880 78.4% Geological 40 28 33 37 52 60 88 124 232 325 354 1373 12.1% Biological 5 7 10 3 4 2 37 64 170 361 612 1275 11.3% Total 73 107 99 112 176 294 388 964 1900 2720 4495 11328
Source: Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED)
1.6.4 The Disaster Events: From Figure 1.4 it may be noticed that the disasters are on increase. The number of disasters events which was 73 in 1900-09 have increased 4494 during 2000-2009. The rise are between the decade of 1900-99 over the period of 2000-09 has been more than 67%.
7 Disaster Management in India
Figure 1.4: Event of Disasters globally in between 1900 - 2009
4000 Hydro meteorological 3500 Geological Biological 3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0 1900-09 1910-19 1920-29 1930-39 1940-49 1950-59 1960-69 1970-79 1980-89 1990-99 2000-09 Source: Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED)
Figure 1.5 shows that 78.4% of the disaster events are accounted during this period for hydro meteorological events. Figure 1.5 and 1.6 shows that incidents of Hydro meteorological is on increase and life lost is also maximum in the hydro meteorological events.
Figure 1.5: Disaster Events (1900-2009) Figure 1.6: Disaster Deaths (1900 - 2009)
149,736 11.3% (10.99%) 12.1% 559,481 653,128 78.4% (41.06%) (47.94%)
Hydro-Met Geological Biological
Source: Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED)
1.6.5 Indian Scenario: India due to its geo-climatic and socio-economic condition is prone to various disasters. During the last thirty years time span the country has been hit by 431 major disasters resulting into enormous loss to life and property. According to the Prevention Web statistics, 143039 people were killed and about 150 crore were affected by various disasters in the country during these three decades. The disasters caused huge loss to property and other infrastructures costing more than US $ 4800 crore. The most severe disasters in the country and their impact in term of people affected, lives lost and economic damage is given in the Table 1.4.
8 An Overview
Table 1.4: People affected, lives lost and economic damage due to Disasters in India between 1980 to 2010 Year Type of Disasters People affected Life lost Economic damage (USD x 1,000) 1980 Flood 30,000,023 1982 Drought 100,000,000 Flood 33,500,000 1984 Epidemic 3290 1987 Drought 300,000,000 1988 Epidemic 3000 1990 Storm 2,200,000 1993 Flood 128,000,000 7,000,000 Earthquake* 9,748 1994 Flood 2001 1995 Flood 32,704,000 1996 Storm 1,500,300 1998 Storm 2871 Extreme Temp. 2541 Flood 1811 1999 Storm 9,843 2,500,000 2000 Drought 50,000,000 2001 Earthquake* 20,005 2,623,000 2002 Drought 300,000,000 Flood 42,000,000 2004 Flood 33,000,000 2,500,000 Earthquake* 16,389 2005 Flood 3,330,000 Flood 2,300,000 2006 Flood 3,390,000 2009 Flood 2,150,000
Source: “EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database * (includes Tsunami) 1.6.6 In India, the cyclone which occurred on 25th November, 1839 had a death toll of three lakh people. The Bhuj earthquake of 2001 in Gujarat and the Super Cyclone of Orissa on 29th October, 1999 are still fresh in the memory of most Indians. The most recent natural disaster of a cloud burst resulting in flash floods and mudflow in Leh and surrounding areas in the early hours of 6th August, 2010, caused severe damage in terms of human lives as well as property. There was a reported death toll of 196 persons, 65 missing persons, 3,661 damaged houses and 27,350 hectares of affected crop area. 1.6.7 Floods, earthquakes, cyclones, hailstorms, etc. are the most frequently occurring disasters in India. Table 1.5 gives an account of the loss due to above disasters during decade of 2001- 2010.
9 Disaster Management in India
Table 1.5: Year-wise damage caused due to floods, cyclonic storms, landslides etc. during last ten years in India
Year Live Lost Cattle Lost Houses damaged Cropped areas affected (in human (in No.) (in No.) (in No.) Lakh hectares) 2001-02 834 21,269 3,46,878 18.72 2002-03 898 3,729 4,62,700 21.00 2003-04 1,992 25,393 6,82,209 31.98 2004-05 1,995 12,389 16,03,300 32.53 2005-06 2,698 1,10,997 21,20,012 35.52 2006-07 2,402 4,55,619 19,34,680 70.87 2007-08 3,764 1,19,218 35,27,041 85.13 2008-09 3,405 53,833 16,46,905 35.56 2009-10 1,677 1,28,452 13,59,726 47.13 2010-11 2,310 48,778 13,38,619 46.25 Source: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) 1.6.8 The hazard vulnerability of the country as shown in Figure 1.7 finds a face when we look at the major disasters of the country from 1980-2010. During this period of 30 years the country has been hit by approximately 25 major disasters apart from the heat wave, cold wave and heavy winds affecting some areas of the country.
Figure 1.7: Major Disasters in India from 1980-2010
Source: NIDM
10 An Overview
1.7. Vulnerability Profile of India 1.7.1 India has been vulnerable, in varying degrees, to a large number of natural, as well as, human-made disasters on account of its unique geo-climatic and socio-economic conditions. It is highly vulnerable to floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, avalanches and forest fires. Out of 35 states and union territories in the country, 27 of them are disaster prone. Almost 58.6 per cent of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of moderate to very high intensity; over 40 million hectares (12 per cent of land) are prone to floods and river erosion; of the 7,516 km long coastline, close to 5,700 km is prone to cyclones and tsunamis; 68 per cent of the cultivable area is vulnerable to drought and hilly areas are at risk from landslides and avalanches. A multi-hazard map of India may be seen in Figure 1.8. Hazard Profile of India (a) India is one of the ten worst disaster prone countries of the world. The country is prone to disasters due to number of factors; both natural and human induced, including adverse geo climatic conditions, topographic features, environmental degradation, population growth, urbanisation, industrialization, non scientific development practices etc. The factors either in original or by accelerating the intensity and frequency of disasters are responsible for heavy toll of human lives and disrupting the life supporting system in the country. The basic reason for the high vulnerability of the country to natural disasters is its unique geographical and geological situations. As far as the vulnerability to disaster is concerned, the five distinctive regions of the country i.e. Himalayan region, the alluvial plains, the hilly part of the peninsula, and the coastal zone have their own specific problems. While on one hand the Himalayan region is prone to disasters like earthquakes and landslides, the plain is affected by floods almost every year. The desert part of the country is affected by droughts and famine while the coastal zone susceptible to cyclones and storms. (b) The natural geological setting of the country is the primary basic reason for its increased vulnerability. The geo-tectonic features of the Himalayan region and adjacent alluvial plains make the region susceptible to earthquakes, landslides, water erosion etc. Though peninsular India is considered to be the most stable portions, but occasional earthquakes in the region shows that geo- tectonic movements are still going on within its depth. (c) The tectonic features, characteristics of the Hiamalya are prevalent in the alluvial plains of Indus, Ganga and Brahmputra too, as the rocks lying below the alluvial pains are just extension of the Himalayan ranges only. Thus this region is also quite prone to seismic activities. As a result of various major river systems flowing from Himalaya and huge quantity of sediment brought by them, the area is also suffering from river channel siltation, resulting into frequent floods, especially in the plains of Uttar Pardesh and Bihar. (d) The western part of the country, including Rajasthan, Gujarat and some parts of Maharashtra are hit very frequently by drought situation. If Monsoon worsens the situation spreads in other parts of the country too. The disturbance in the pressure conditions over oceans, results into cyclones in coastal regions. The geo tectonic movements going on in the ocean floor make the coastal region prone to tsunami disaster too. (e) The extreme weather conditions, huge quantity of ice and snow stored in the glaciers etc. are other natural factors which make the country prone to various forms of disasters. (f) Along with the natural factors discussed in the preceding text, various human induced activities like increasing demographic pressure, deteriorating environmental conditions,
11 Disaster Management in India
Figure 1.8 : Multi Hazard Map of India
Source: DM unit, UNDP, India
12 An Overview
deforestation, unscientific development, faulty agricultural practices and grazing, unplanned urbanisation, construction of large dams on river channels etc. are also responsible for accelerated impact and increase in frequency of disasters in the country.
Figure 1.9: INDIA - Losses due to Disasters
90 80 86 Economic loss - 2% 70 of the GDP rore c 60 (Source :World Bank) 50 54 thousand 40 in
30 36
Losses 20 50 % 139 % 10 0 91 - 95 96 - 00 '01 - 05
Period Source: NDMA
Losses due to disasters have been shown in Figure 1.9. It shows that economic loss is accounted for 2% of the GDP due to disasters as per the study of the World Bank.
1.7.2 Vulnerability to disasters or emergencies of Chemical, Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) origin has increased on account of socio-economic development. Heightened vulnerabilities to disaster risks can be related to expanding population, urbanization and industrialization, development within high-risk zones, environmental degradation and climate change.
During the last two decades of the 19th century (1982-2001), natural disasters in India had claimed a total death toll of around 1, 07,813 people (on an average more than 5,390 death toll every year). As mentioned above, India with its extended coast line is exposed to five to six tropical cyclones on an average, both from the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal annually.
1.7.3 Climate Change: This is Figure 1.10: IPCC estimates of climate change evident from the increase in the global average air and ocean temperatures, precipitation and extreme rainfall, widespread melting of snow and ice, storms/ storm surges/coastal flooding and rising global mean sea level, as recorded in the fourth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Figure 1.10. Climate change is expected to increase the Source: IPCC
13 Disaster Management in India frequency and intensity of current extreme weather events and give rise to new vulnerabilities with differential spatial and socio-economic impacts on communities. The unprecedented increase is expected to have severe impacts on the hydrological cycle, water resource, droughts, flood, drinking water, forest and ecosystems, sea level/coastal area losses of coastal wetlands and mangroves, food security, health and other related areas. The impact would be particularly disastrous for developing countries, including India and further degrade the resilience of poor, vulnerable communities, which make up between one quarter and one half of the population of the most Indian cities.
1.7.4 Reason for concern: There is clear evidence that the observed change in surface temperature, rainfall, evaporation and extreme events and climate change is a significant environmental challenge. The main impact of global climate change will be felt due to changes in climate variability and weather extremes. Observations during the last decade and projections indicate that extreme events i.e. heat waves, cold waves, more floods, more droughts, more intense cyclones and flash floods will increase. Extreme rainfall has substantially increased over large areas, particularly over the west coast and west central India. There is thus an urgent need for a paradigm shift in disaster management, especially under changing climate.
1.7.5 Poverty and disaster vulnerability: Poverty and risk to disasters are inextricably linked and mutually reinforcing. The poor section of the society is worst affected in case of disaster. The situation further aggravates due to the compulsion of the poor to exploit environmental resources for their survival, increasing the risk and exposure of the society to disasters, in particular those triggered by flood, drought and landslides. Poverty also compels the poor to migrate and live at physically more vulnerable locations, often on unsafe land and in unsafe shelters. These inhabitations of the poor at such locations are either due to the fact that there is no other land available at reasonable cost or it is close to the employment opportunities. The inhabitations of the poor people on marginal land are prone to all types of disasters. The type of construction of these houses further deteriorates the condition. These dwellings made up of low cost material without giving much consideration to technical aspect are easy targets of various hazards.
1.8. Climate Profile5 1.8.1 India is home to an extraordinary variety of climatic regions, ranging from tropical in the south to temperate and alpine in the Himalayan north. The nation’s climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar deserts. For the purpose of identification of drought prone areas by Central Water Commission (CWC) the criteria adopted was that “drought is a situation occurring in an area when the annual rainfall is less than 75 percent of normal in 20 percent of the years examined. Any block or equivalent unit where 30 percent or more of the cultivated area is irrigated is considered to have reached a stage, which enables it to sustain a reasonable protection against drought”. A study rainfall data from 1875 to 1998 indicated the percentage area of the country affected by moderate and severe drought. It may be noted that during the complete 124 year period there were three occasions i.e. 1877, 1899 and 1918 when percentage of the country affected by drought was more than 60 percent).
1.8.2 In the span of 124 years, the probability of occurrence of drought was found maximum in Rajasthan (25 %), Saurastra & Kutch (23%), followed by Jammu & Kashmir (21%) and Gujarat (21%) region. The drought of 1987 in various parts of the country was of “unprecedented intensity” resulting in serious crop damages and an alarming scarcity of drinking water.
14 An Overview
1.8.3 Rainfall in India: The country is influenced by two seasons of rains, accompanied by seasonal reversal of winds from January to July. Consequent to the intense heat of the summer months, the northern Indian landmass becomes hot and draws moist winds over the oceans causing a reversal of the winds over the region called the summer or the south-west (SW) monsoon. This is most important feature controlling the Indian climate because about 75 percent of the annual rainfall is received during a short span of four months ie June to September. There is a large variation in the amounts of rainfall received at different locations. The average annual rainfall is less than 13 cm over the western Rajasthan, while Mausiram in the Meghalaya has as much as 1141 cm. During the period from 1871 to 2009, there were 27 major drought years in India. One of the major reasons for these droughts has been a strong link with the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) patterns and its linkages with Indian food grain production. 1.8.4 South West Monsoon: The rainfall over India has large spatial as well as temporal variability. A homogeneous data series has been constructed for the period 1901-2003. Mean monthly rainfall during July (286.5 mm) is the highest and contributes about 24.2 percent of the annual rainfall (1182.8 mm). The mean rainfall during August is slightly lower and contributes 21.2 percent of the annual rainfall. June and September rainfalls are almost similar and contribute 13.8 percent and 14.2 percent of the annual rainfall, respectively. The mean south-west monsoon (June, July, August and September) rainfall (877.2 mm) contributes 74.2 percent of the annual rainfall (1182.8 mm). 1.8.5 The onset of the SW monsoon normally starts over the Kerala coast, the southern tip of the country by 1st June, advances along the Konkan coast in early June and covers the whole country by middle of July. Onset occurs about a week earlier over islands in the Bay of Bengal. The monsoon is influenced by global and local phenomenon like EI Nino, northern hemisphere temperature, sea surface temperatures, snow cover etc. The monsoon rainfall oscillates between active spells associated with widespread rains over most parts of the country. Heavy rainfall in the mountainous catchment under ‘break’ conditions result in flooding of the plains. 1.8.6 Cyclonic systems of low pressure called ‘monsoon depressions’ are formed in the Bay of Bengal during this season. These systems generally form in the northern part of the Bay with average frequency of about two to three per month and move in a northward or north- westward direction, bringing well distributed rainfall over the central and northern parts of the country. The SW monsoon generally starts withdrawing from Rajasthan by 1st September and from north-western part of India by 15th September. It withdraws from almost all parts of the country by 15th October. It is replaced by a northerly continental airflow called North-East Monsoon. The retreating monsoon winds cause occasional showers along the east coast of Tamil Nadu. 1.8.7 North East Monsoon: Post- monsoon or Northeast monsoon or Retreating SW Monsoon Season (October, November and December): North- East monsoon or post monsoon season is a transition season associated with the establishment of the north-easterly wind regime over the Indian sub continent. Meteorological subdivisions of coastal Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and South Interior Karnataka receive good amounts of rainfall accounting for about 35 percent of their annual total rainfall in these months. Many parts of this region are affected due to the storms forming in the Bay of Bengal. Large scale losses to life and property occur due to heavy rainfall, strong winds and storm surges in the coastal region.
15 Disaster Management in India
1.9 Cause and Effect of Disasters6 1.9.1 India is vulnerable to extreme weather events (Box 1.2). Over the decade of the 1990s, both the number and severity of such events have increased. Weather events can be classified as extreme on the basis of various factors such as the impact, the socio-economic losses, environmental degradation and long term damages etc. 1.9.2 With more than 70 percent of India’s population relying on agriculture directly or indirectly, the impact of extreme weather on human life and other living beings. is critical. In the state of Orissa, 49 years have experienced floods, 30 have had droughts, and 11 faced cyclones. These analyses have yielded a 30-year cyclicity of the Indian monsoons. Droughts were more common in the 1960s. Of the 14 major drought years in the 85-year record, eight occurred in the first 30 year period (1891-1920) whereas there was only one in the second 30 year period (1921- 1950). In the 25-year period from 1951 –1981, five major drought years were recorded. In 1972 and 1979 deficient rainfall (about 25% below normal) was recorded in one half to two thirds of India’s plains. In 1994, monsoon rainfall was deficient (between 20% and 43%) in 10 of the 31 meteorological subdivisions of India. 1.9.3 According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), data of major natural disasters/ extremes that occurred around the world during the period 1963-2002, indicates that floods and droughts cause the maximum damage as shown in Table 1.6.
Table 1.6: Worldwide view of damage caused by Natural disasters
Type of natural disaster around the world Damage caused by natural calamities (%) Floods 32 Tropical Cyclones 30 Droughts 22 Earthquakes 10 Other disasters 6
Source: World Meteorological Organisation 1.9.4 Floods and droughts occurring in India are closely associated with the nature and extent of the summer monsoon. The inter-annual fluctuations in the summer monsoon rainfall over India are sufficiently large to cause devastating floods or serious droughts. Floods and droughts affect vast areas of the country, transcending state boundaries. One-sixth area of the country is drought-prone. Out of 40 million hectares of the flood prone area in the country, on an average, floods affect an area of around 7.5 million hectares per year.
Box 1.2: Examples of extreme weather events Primary Climatic Events x Cold wave, fog, snow storms and avalanches x Hailstorm, thunderstorm and dust storms x Extreme temperature x Tropical cyclone and tidal wave x Floods, heavy rain x Droughts (hydrological, meteorological and agricultural etc.)
16 An Overview
Secondary Events ( May be climate-driven) x Incidence of epidemics or diseases x Urban and rural water shortage x Crop plantation failure or harvest failure x Malnutrition or under nutrition and hunger x Landslides, saline water intrusion and mudflows Source: NIDM
1.10 Droughts7 The primary cause of any drought is deficiency of rainfall and in particular, the timing, distribution and intensity of this deficiency in relation to existing reserves. A prolonged period of relatively dry weather leading to drought is a widely recognized climate anomaly. Drought can be devastating as water supplies dry up, crops fail to grow, animals die, and malnutrition and ill health become widespread The environmental effects of drought, including stalinization of soil and groundwater decline, increased pollution of freshwater ecosystems and regional extinction of animal species. The details of the drought years may be seen from the Table 1.7. Table 1.7: Drought years with percentage area of the country affected by drought S. No. Year Moderate drought (%) Severe drought (%) Total (%) 1 1877 30.6 28.9 59.5 2 1891 22.4 0.3 22.7 3 1899 44.1 24.3 68.4 4 1901 19.3 10.7 30.0 5 1904 17.5 16.9 34.4 6 1905 25.2 12.0 37.2 7 1907 27.9 1.2 29.1 8 1911 13.0 15.4 28.4 9 1913 24.5 0.0 24.5 10 1915 18.8 3.4 22.2 11 1918 44.3 25.7 70.0 12 1920 35.7 2.3 38.0 13 1925 21.1 0.0 21.1 14 1939 17.8 10.7 28.5 15 1941 35.5 0.0 35.5 16 1951 35.1 0.0 35.1 17 1965 38.3 0.0 38.3 18 1966 35.4 0.0 35.4 19 1968 21.9 0.0 21.9 20 1972 36.6 3.8 40.4 21 1974 27.1 6.9 34.0 22 1979 33.0 1.8 34.8 23 1982 29.1 0.0 29.1 24 1985 25.6 16.7 42.3 25 1987 29.8 17.9 47.7 26 2002 19.0 10.0 29.0 27 2009 32.5 13.5 46.0 Source: IMD
17 Disaster Management in India
Source: NDMA
In India around 68 percent of the country is prone to drought in varying degrees. Of the entire area 35 percent receives rain falls between 750 mm and 1125 mm which is considers drought prone while 33 percent which receives rainfalls between less than 750 mm is considered to be chronically drought prone. 1.11. Floods8 1.11.1 Flood destructions have always brought miseries to numerous people, especially in rural areas. Flood results in the outbreak of serious epidemics, specially malaria and cholera. Simultaneously, scarcity of water also arises. It has a drastic effect on agricultural produce. Sometimes, water remains standing over large areas for long span of time hampering the Rabi crops. The flood hazard map of India may be seen in the Figure 1.11. 1.11.2 India is one of the most flood prone countries in the world. The principal reasons for flood lie in the very nature of natural ecological systems in this country, namely, the monsoon, the highly silted river systems and the steep and highly erodible mountains, particularly those of the Himalayan ranges. The average rainfall in India is 1150 mm with significant variation across the country. The annual rainfall along the western coast and Western Ghats, Khasi hills and over most of the Brahmaputra valley amounts to more than 2500 mm. Most of the floods occur during the monsoon period and are usually associated with tropical storms or depressions, active monsoon conditions and break monsoon situations. 1.11.3 Twenty-three of the 35 states and union territories in the country are subject to floods and 40 million hectares of land, roughly one-eighth of the country’s geographical area, is prone to floods. The National Flood Control Program was launched in the country in 1954. Since then sizeable progress has been made in the flood protection measures. By 1976, nearly one third of the flood prone area had been afforded reasonable protection; considerable experience has been gained in planning, implementation and performance of flood warning, protection and control measures (CWC, 2007). Table 1.8 presents the flood affected area and damages for the period 1953 to 2004 in India as per Water Data Complete Book 2005 and Central Water Commission, 2007).
18 An Overview
Figure 1. 11: Flood hazard map of India
Source: BMTPC
19 Disaster Management in India
Mumbai Flood in 2006- Urban Flooding
Table 1.8: Flood affected areas and damages in India (1953 to 2004) Sl Item Unit Average Years Maximum No. During Damage (Year) (1953- 2004) 1 Area Affected Million Hectare 7.63 1978 17.50 2 Population affected Million 32.92 1978 70.45 3 Human Lives Lost No. 1597 1977 11316 4 Cattle Lost In thousands 94 1979 618 5 Cropped Area Affected Million Hectare 3.56 1988 10.15 6 Value of Damage Crops ` Crore 708.57 2000 4246.6 7 Houses Damaged Th. No. 1235.61 1978 3508 8 Value of Damage Houses ` Crore 251.05 1995 1307.9 9 Value of Damage Public ` Crore 813.69 2001 5604 Utilities 10 Value of total Damage to ` Crore 1817.07 2000 8864 Houses, Crops and Public Utilities
Source: Central Water Commission (FMP Directorate)
1.11.4 Floods occur in almost all rivers basins in India. The main causes of floods are heavy rainfall, inadequate capacity of rivers to carry the high flood discharge, inadequate drainage to carry away the rainwater quickly to streams/ rivers. Ice jams or landslides blocking streams; typhoons and cyclones also cause floods. Flash floods occur due to high rate of water flow as also due to poor permeability of the soil. Areas with hardpan just below the surface of the soil are more prone to, floods as water fails to seep down to the deeper layers.
20 An Overview
Floods in Uttarakhand in September 2010
1.11.5 Vulnerability to floods and other natural disasters is caused by the high population density, widespread poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, enormous pressure on rural land, and an economy traditionally dominated by agriculture. Children and women are particularly vulnerable. Eighty- five percent of the deaths during disasters are of women and children (Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, CRED 2000). Presently there is an inadequate level of protection in the country against floods. Though non-structural measures improve the preparedness to floods and reduce losses, the necessity of structural measures would always remain to reduce the extent of physical damage caused by floods. In future, programme, flood control and management planning along with climate change need to be integrated into development planning for the country.
1.12 Tropical Cyclones9 1.12.1 The major natural disaster that affects the coastal regions of India is cyclone and as India has a coastline of about 7516 kms, it is exposed to nearly 10 percent of the world’s tropical cyclones. About 71 percent of this area is in ten states (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal). The islands of Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep are also prone to cyclones. On an average, about five or six tropical cyclones form in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea and hit the coast every year. Out of these, two or three are severe.
1.12.2 When a cyclone approaches to coast, a risk of serious loss or damage arises from severe winds, heavy rainfall, storm surges and river floods. The effect of a storm surge is most pronounced in wide and shallow bays exposed to cyclones such as in the northern part of Bay of Bengal. On an average, five or six tropical cyclones occur every year, of which two or three could be severe. Most cyclones occur in the Bay of Bengal followed by those in the Arabian Sea and the ratio is approximately 4:1. The incidence of cyclonic storms, with wind speeds between 65 Km/h and 117 Km/h and severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds between 119 Km/h and 164
21 Disaster Management in India
Figure 1.12: Cyclone Hazard Map
Source: BMTPC
22 An Overview
Km/h, reaching Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh is high during the north east monsoon season ie. October – December, where as the highest annual number of storms, severe storms occur in the Orissa - West Bengal coast.
1.12.3 The yearly distribution of tropical cyclones in the north Indian Ocean indicates large year- to-year variations in the frequency of cyclonic disturbances and tropical cyclones, but no distinct periodicity. However, the trend indicates a slight decrease with time. The annual average of cyclonic disturbances in the North Indian Ocean is about 15.7 with a standard deviation of 3.1. The annual number of cyclonic disturbances range from seven in 1984 to twenty three in 1927. The annual average of tropical cyclones has varied from one in 1949 to ten in 1893, 1926, 1930 and 1976. The Cyclone hazard map of India may be seen in the Figure 1.12. gives the vulnerability map of hazard due to cyclone.
1.12.4 A severe super cyclonic storm with winds of upto 250 km/hour crossed the coast in Orissa on October 29, 1999. This may have been the worst cyclone of the country in the Orissa region and was responsible for as many as 10,000 deaths, rendering millions homeless and extensive damage to property and environment. Some of the disastrous tropical storms of India and Bangladesh are given in Table 1.9.
Table 1.9: Major Cyclones of India and Bangladesh
Year Name of the Country No. of Deaths Storm surge (Height in ft.) 1737 Hoogli, West Bengal (India) 3,00,000 40’ 1876 Bakerganj (Bangladesh) 2,50,000 10’-40’ 1885 False point (Orissa) 5,000 22’ 1960 Bangladesh 5,490 19” 1961 Bangladesh 11,468 16’ 1970 Bangladesh 2,00,000 13-17’ 1971 Paradeep, Orissa (India) 10,000 7’-20’ 1977 Chirala, Andhra Pradesh 10,000 16’-18’ 1990 Andhra Pradesh 990 13’-17’ 1991 Bangladesh 1,38,000 7’-20’ 1998 Porbander cyclone 1,173 -- 1999 Paradeep, Orissa 9,885 30’
Source: IMD Disastrous weather Events annual reports
1.13 Heat Wave10 1.13.1 Extreme positive departures from the normal maximum temperature result in a heat wave during the summer season. The rising maximum temperature during the pre-monsoon months often continues till June, in rare cases till July, over the northwestern parts of the country. Table 1.10 gives the number of heat waves observed in India during 1911-1999.
23 Disaster Management in India
Table 1.10: Number of Heat Waves in India
State Epochs 1911-67 1968-77 1978-99 2000-2009** 1911-2009 West Bengal 31 2 28 6 67 Bihar 76 9 28 4 117 Uttar Pradesh 105 6 23 - 134 Rajasthan 27 3 42 14 56 Gujarat, Saurashtra & Kutch 43 1 7 2 53 Punjab - 2 - 6 8 Himachal Pradesh - 1 - 1 2 Jammu & Kashmir - - - - - Maharashtra 26 5 35 12 78 Madhya Pradesh 32 4 15 5 56 Orissa 25 8 18 22 73 Andhra Pradesh 21 - 3 2 26 Assam - 4 19 - 23 Haryana, Delhi & Chandigarh - 1 2 2 5 Tamil Nadu 5 - 2 1 8 Karnataka - - - 1 -
Source: IMD Disastrous weather Events annual reports; EMDAT Note: Epoch is defined as number of events.
1.13.2 In recent years, heat wave induced casualties have some what increased. Abnormally high temperatures were observed during April 2002 across the country. On 10th May 2002, the maximum temperature at Gannavaram (Vijayawada) 49°C (WMO 2003) was recorded. Decrease in the Diurnal Temperature Range (DTR) due to urbanisation is a new factor leading to human
Table 1.11: Deaths due to Heat Waves in India
Year No of Deaths Year No of Deaths Year No of Deaths 1979 361 1989 44 1999 126 1980 156 1990 2 2000 57 1981 72 1991 252 2001 70 1982 16 1992 114 2002 806 1983 185 1993 42 2003 1539 1984 58 1994 434 2004 117 1985 142 1995 412 2005 587 1986 156 1996 20 2006 135 1987 91 1997 20 2007 476 1988 637 1998 1662 2008 294 Source- IMD Report
24 An Overview mortality and discomfort. Increased minimum temperatures in summer do not allow the necessary nocturnal cooling to neutralize the high maximum temperature during a heat wave epoch. Table 1.11 gives the details of the death due to the heat waves in India.
1.14 Cold Wave and Fog11 1.14.1 Occurrences of extreme low temperature in association with incursion of dry cold winds from north into the sub continent are known as cold waves. The northern parts of India, specially the hilly regions and the adjoining plains, are influenced by transient disturbances in the mid latitude westerlies which often have weak frontal characteristics. These are known as western disturbances. The cold waves mainly affect the areas to the north of 20°N but in association with large amplitude troughs, cold wave conditions are sometimes reported from states like Maharashtra and Karnataka as well. Table 1.12 gives the frequencies of the occurrence of cold waves in different parts of the country for different periods. In recent years due to deterioration of the air quality in urban locations of India the deaths and discomfort from cold waves have been substantial. UP and Bihar rank the highest in terms of casualties from cold wave and this could be due to poor level of development and lack of shelters to the outdoor workers and farmers.
Table 1.12: Number of Cold Waves in India Epochs 1901-10 1911-67 1968-77 1978-99 2000- 1901-2009 2009** West Bengal 2 14 3 28 7 54 Bihar 7 27 8 67 12 121 Uttar Pradesh 21 51 8 47 13 140 Rajasthan 11 124 7 53 12 207 Gujarat, Saurashtra & 2856 6 99 Kutch Punjab 3 34 4 19 10 70 Himachal Pradesh - - 4 18 4 26 Jammu & Kashmir 1 189 6 15 2 213 Maharashtra - 60 4 18 1 83 Madhya Pradesh 9 88 7 12 1 117 Orissa 4 5 - - 3 15 Andhra Pradesh 2 - - - - 2 Assam 1 1 - - 2 4 Haryana, Delhi & - - 4 151534 Chandigarh Tamil Nadu ------Karnataka - 10 - - - 10 Jharkhand - - - - 1 1
Source: IMD Disastrous weather Events annual reports; EMDAT Note: Epoch is defined as number of events.
25 Disaster Management in India
1.15 Thunderstorm, Hailstorm and Dust Storm12 1.15.1 As winter season transforms into spring, the temperature rises initially in the southern parts of India, giving rise to thunderstorms and squally weather which are hazardous in nature. While the southernmost part of the country is free from dust storms and hailstorms, such hazardous weather affectsthe central, northeastern, north and northwestern parts of the country. The hailstorm frequencies are highest in the Assam valley, followed by hills of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Vidarbha Maharashtra (Philip & Daniel 1976). However, thunderstorms also occur in Kolkatta, Delhi, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. Tornadoes are rare in India but some of them are quite devastating. Some of other tornadoes which caused extensive damage and destruction in the country is given in the Table 1.13.
Table 1.13: Past Incidences of Tornadoes
Sl.No Event Date and years Place Loss of Injured Homeless life 1 Tornado 19th April 1963 Cooch Bihar, West Bengal, 139 - 3760 India 2. Tornado 1st April 1977 Dhaka, Bangladesh 500 6000 - 3. Tornado 12 April 1983 Gaighata, West Bengal, India 28 500 - 4. Tornado 19th October 1987 Chapra, India 20 517 - 5. Tornado 9th April 1993 Kanthi in WB, India 50 180 -
Source: IMD Disastrous weather Events annual reports
1.16 Earthquakes13 1.16.1 Globally, earthquakes result in a loss of about 50,000 lives every year. Earthquakes over 5.5 magnitude on the Richter scale are progressively damaging to property and human life. However, there are many other factors that influences the damage pattern. Massive earthquakes generally occur near the junction of two tectonic plates, e.g., along the Himalayan range, where the Indian plate goes below Eurasian plate. The Indian sub- continent situated on the boundaries of two continental plates is very prone to earthquakes. Some of the most intense earthquakes of the world have occurred in India. Fortunately, none of these have occurred in any of the major cities. According to latest seismic zoning map brought out by the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS), over 65 percent of the country is prone to earthquake of intensity Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MSK) VII or more. 1.16.2 India has been divided into four seismic zones according to the maximum intensity of earthquake expected (Figure 1.13). Of these, zone V is the most active which comprises of whole of Northeast India, the northern portion of Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Gujarat and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. India has highly populous cities and the constructions in these cities are not earthquake resistant. Regulatory mechanisms are weak, thus any earthquake striking in one of these cities would turn into a major disaster. Six major earthquakes have struck different parts of India over a span of the last 15 years. 1.16.3 The entire Himalayan Region is considered to be vulnerable to high intensity earthquakes of a magnitude exceeding 8.0 on the Richter Scale, and in a relatively short span of about 50 years, four such major earthquakes have occurred in the region: Shillong, 1897 (M8.7); Kangra, 1905
26 An Overview
Figure 1.13: Earthquake hazard map of India
Source: BMTPC
27 Disaster Management in India
Damaged structure due to earthquake- Gujarat 2001 (M.8.0); Bihar–Nepal, 1934 (M 8.3); and Assam–Tibet, 1950 (M 8.6). Scientific publications have warned that very severe earthquakes are likely to occur anytime in the Himalayan Region, which could adversely affect the lives of several million people in India. Some significant earthquakes in India are listed in the Table 1.14.
Table 1.14: Some Significant Earthquakes in India Date Epicenter Location Magnitude Lat (Deg. N) Lat (Deg. E) 16 June 1819 23.6 68.6 Kutch, Gujarat 8.0 10 June 1869 25 93 Near Cachar, Assam 7.5 30 May 1885 34.1 74.6 Sopor, J&K 7.0 12 June 1897 26 91 Shilong Plateau 8.7 04 April 1905 32.3 76.3 Kangra, HP 8.0 08 July 1918 24.5 91.0 Srimangal, Assam 7.6 02 July 1930 25.8 90.2 Dhubri, Assam 7.1 15 Jan 1934 26.6 86.8 Bihar- Nepal Border 8.3 26 June 1941 12.4 92.5 Andaman Island 8.1 23 Oct 1943 26.8 94.0 Assam 7.2 15 Aug 1950 28.5 96.7 Arunachal Pradesh- China Border 8.5 21 July 1956 23.3 70.0 Anjar, Gujarat 7.0 10 Dec 1967 17.37 73.75 Koyna, Maharastra 6.5 19 June 1975 32.38 78.49 Kinnuar, HP 6.2 06 Aug 1988 25.13 95.15 Manipur-Myanmar Border 6.6 21 Aug 1988 26.72 86.63 Bihar- Nepal Border 6.4 20 Oct 1991 30.75 78.86 Uttarkhashi, Uttarakhand 6.6 30 Sept 1993 18.07 76.62 Latur- Osmanabad, Maharshtra 6.3 22 May 1997 23.08 80.06 Jabalpur, MP 6.0 29 Mar 1999 30.41 79.42 Chamoli Dist, UK 6.8 26 Jan 2001 23.40 70.28 Bhuj, Gujarat 7.7 08 Oct 2005 34.49 73.15 Kashmir 7.6 Source: IMD
28 An Overview
1.17 Landslides14 1.17.1 Landslides mainly affect the Himalayan region and the western ghats of India. Landslides are also common in the Nilgiri range. It is estimated that 30 percent of the world’s landslides occur in the Himalayas. The Himalayan mountains, which constitute the youngest and most dominating mountain system in the world, are not a single long landmass but comprises a series of seven curvilinear parallel folds running along a grand arc for a total of 3400 kilometers. Due to its unique nature, the Himalayas have a history of landslides that has no comparison with any other mountain range in the world. Landslides are also common in western ghat. In the Nilgiris, in 1978 alone, unprecedented rains in the region triggered about one hundred landslides which caused severe damage to communication lines, tea gardens and other cultivated crops. A valley in Nilgiris is called “Avalanches Valley”. Scientific observation in north Sikkim and Garhwal regions in the Himalayas clearly reveal that there is an average of two landslides per sq. km. The mean rate of land loss is to the tune of 120 meter per km per year and annual soil loss is about 2500 tones per sq km. Fig 1.14 shows the landslide hazard zones in India
1.17.2 Landslides constitute a major natural hazard in our country, which accounts for considerable loss of life and damage to communication routes, human settlements, agricultural fields and forest lands. Based on the general experience with landslides, a rough estimate of monetary loss is of the order of ` 100 crore to ` 150 crore per annum at the current prices for the country as a whole.
Landslide at Darjeeling, 2010 Source: Save the Hills Organisation
29 Disaster Management in India
Figure 1.14: Landslide hazard zones in India
Source: BMTPC
1.18 Industrial and Chemical Disasters15 1.18.1 Industrial disasters include events that occur due to mishaps or failures in industry or related activities and also the disasters that affect the industrial functions, property and productivity. ‘Chemical Disasters’ and ‘Industrial Disasters’ are terms often used interchangeably but are actually a sub-category of the other. A chemical disaster may occur due to both, natural or human-made sources, however, in view of growing chemical usage and industrial development worldwide, the pre-disaster prevention and mitigation of chemical (industrial) disasters is a
30 An Overview serious concern. It is estimated that there are currently over 1949 Major Accident Hazards units in India besides other small and medium–sized industries, in huge numbers, all across the nation. New industries are also coming up at a rapid rate. A year wise list of chemical disasters for past decade may be seen in Table 1.15. 1.18.2 Industrial disaster: Industrial disasters are disasters caused by chemical, mechanical, civil, electrical or other process failures due to accident, negligence or incompetence, in an industrial plant which may spill over to the areas outside the plant or with in causing damage to life, property and environment. 1.18.3 Chemical disaster: Chemical disasters are occurrence of emission, fire or explosion involving one or more hazardous chemicals in the course of industrial activity (handling), storage or transportation or due to natural events leading to serious effects inside or outside the installation likely to cause loss of life and property including adverse effects on the environment. “Chemical accident or emergency can result in extensive damage to the environment with considerable human and economic costs. Chemical and industrial emergencies may arise in a number of ways, such as -
Explosion in a plant Accidents in treatment plants Accidents in storage facilities of chemicals Technological system failures Accidents during the transportation of Failures of plant safety design chemicals, misuse of chemicals Arson and sabotage Improper waste management Human error
Table 1.15: Year wise Chemical disasters in past decade SL No. Year No. of No. of No. of States where the incidents were recorded incidents Deaths injured 1. 2002 06 05 31 Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra 2. 2003 06 11 112 Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab 3. 2004 18 47 91 Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Delhi 4. 2005 11 15 14 Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Uttar Pradesh 5. 2006 16 32 24 Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal 6. 2007 18 37 14 Assam, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttarakhand, West Bengal 7. 2008 23 50 148 Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh 8. 2009 24 50 128 Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal 9. 2010 08 12 01 Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh 10. Total 130 259 563 Source: Ministry of Environment and Forests
31 Disaster Management in India
1.19 Tsunami 1.19.1 Tsunamis and earthquakes happen after centuries of energy build up within the earth. A tsunami (in Japanese ‘tsu’ means harbor and ‘nami’ means wave) is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, usually an ocean. In the Tamil language it is known as “Aazhi Peralai”. Seismicity generated tsunamis are result of abrupt deformation of sea floor resulting vertical displacement of the overlying water. Earthquakes occurring beneath the sea level, the water above the reformed area is displaced from its equilibrium position. The release of energy produces tsunami waves which have small amplitude but a very long wavelength (often hundreds of kilometer long). It may be caused by non-seismic event also such as a landslide or impact of a meteor.
1.19.2 Characteristics: Tsunami in the deep ocean may have very long waves length of hundred of kilometer and travels at about 800 km per hour, but an amplitude of only about 1 km. It remains undetected by ships in the deep sea. However when it approaches the coast its wavelength diminishes but amplitude grows enormously, and it takes very little Box 1. 3: Historical Tsunamis in India time to reach its full height. Computer model can provide tsunami arrival, usually Tsunami Sources for India t 'PSBUTVOBNJUPIJU*OEJBODPBTU JUJTOFDFTTBSZ within minutes of the arrival time. Tsunamis that earthquake of magnitude > 7 should occur. have great erosion potential, stripping Two such possible zones are beaches of sand, coastal vegetation t "OEBNBO4VNBUSB and dissipating its energy through t .BLSBO the destruction of houses and coastal t /PUBMMNBKPSFBSUIRVBLFTBSFUTVOBNJHFOJD structure. t 5PHFOFSBUFUTVOBNJ t &BSUIRVBLFT NVTU PDDVS VOEFS PS OFBS 1.19.3 Tsunami Vulnerability16: Potential ocean Tsunamigenic zones may be seen from t %FQUILN t 7FSUJDBMNPWFNFOUPGUIFTFBøPPS Figure 1.15. For Tsunami to hit the Indian t 4MPX 3VQUVSF 7FMPDJUJFT BSF NPTU FóDJFOU coast according to INCOIS, it is necessary Tsunami Generators that the earthquake of magnitude more t )JTUPSJDBM5TVOBNJTJO*OEJB than 7.0 on Richter scale should normally t "QS #P#&2 o. occur. The possible zones for such an event t %FD $BS/JDPCBS&2 to occur are Andaman - Sumatra or Makran t "VH ,SBLBUPB o. t +VO "OEBNBO&2 (Pakistan). Not all the major eqrthquakes t /PW .BLSBO&2 o. are Tsunamigenic. Few historical events to t %FD 4VNBUSB&2 o. Tsunami in India may be seen in Box No. 1.3. Source: INCOIS
Box 1. 4: Tsunami in Indian Ocean
The Tsunami of 26th December 2004 caused extensive damage to life and property in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, UTs of Puducherry and Andman & Nicobar Islands (A & NI). The Tsunami disaster had badly affected the fishermen community who not only lost their near and dear ones but also lost their means of livelihood. A population of 26.63 lakhs in 1396 villages in five states and UTs was affected by this disaster. Almost 9395 people lost their lives and 3964 people were reported missing and feared dead. Most of the missing persons were from Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
32 An Overview
Figure 1.15: Potential Tsunamigenic zones
Source: INCOIS
1.19.4 Tsunami Risk Assessment17: A preliminary risk assessment has been done for the Indian Coast w.r.t. tsunamis taking into account the seismo-tectonic setting, historical seismicity and past tsunami events. The east and west coasts of India and the island regions are likely to be affected by Tsunamis generated mainly by subduction zone related earthquakes from the two potential source regions, viz., the Andaman-Nicobar-Sumatra Island Arc and the Makran subduction zone north of Arabian Sea. Depending upon the location of the Earthquake, the response time for evacuation of coastal population could range between 10 minutes to a few hours (Figure 1.16). Tsunami modeling studies indicate that the least response time available is for the Andaman & Nicobar Islands which are situated right on the subduction zones capable of triggering tsunamigenic earthquakes. Considering that a credible worst case earthquake of 7.5 or higher occurs near Nicobar, the
33 Disaster Management in India
Figure 1.16: Tsunami travel times & response time
Source: INCOIS
34 An Overview travel time to the nearest coast in Nicobar would be approximately 20 – 30 minutes and for the Indian mainland about 2 – 3 hours. For earthquakes occurring near Indonesia, the travel time to Andaman & Nicobar would be in the range of 1 – 2 hours and to the Indian mainland about 3 – 5 hours. For earthquakes occurring off Makran, the travel time to the nearest Indian coast (Gujarat) would be about 2 – 3 hours. A table showing typical travel times of tsunami waves to a few Indian Coastal locations for 4 historic events is illustrated in Table 1.16.
Table 1.16: Tsunami travel time
EQ Location EQ Location EQ Location EQ Location Northern Sumatra Java Andaman Makran 93.9 E 4.33 N 102.8 E 4.4 S 92.1 E 9.1 N 63.4 E 25.1 N Dec 2004 Aug 1977 June 1941 Nov 1945 9.3 M 8.3 M 7.7 M 8.1 M Coastal Location Tsunami Travel Times Indira Point 20 Min 160 Min 30 Min NA Port Blair 90 Min 230 Min 30 Min NA Chennai 170 Min 300 Min 140 Min NA Visakhapatnam 180 Min 320 Min 150 Min NA Kochi 250 Min NA NA 240 Min Gujarat 430 Min NA NA 105 Min Mumbai 440 Min NA NA 230 Min Source: INCOIS
Box 1.5: Cascading effect of Disaster – Earthquake, Tsunami, fire and nuclear disaster: Japan Experience16 Event of one kind of Disaster sometimes lead to a cascading effect and untold other disasters. The preparedness to respond to such unforeseen chain of events is difficult to visualize and plan and is going to be one of the challenges to managers engaged in DRR. Recent experiences of earthquake in Japan leading to Tsunami, fire and then nuclear emergency are an eye opener to those underestimating the might and fury of nature. i. Earthquake On 11th March 2011, at 14:46 the northeastern part of Japan was triggered by a major earthquake of magnitude 9 with an epicenter at 130 km off the pacific coast of Tohoku region and depth of Source: National Geographic News
35 Disaster Management in India
24 km. As per the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the seismic intensity of 7[in the Japanese scale of 1 to 7] was recorded in Kurihara city of Miyagi prefecture. Moreover, the intensity of 6+ was recorded in 28 cities and towns in Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki, and Tochigi prefacture. It also included Wakuya town, Tome city and Osaki city. Intensity of 6 or weaker was observed in different parts of the country. ii. Tsunami It was followed by a major Tsunami, with maximum height of 11.87 meter recorded near the coast of Akamae at 15:31 JST, Major tsunami of more than 3 m or more arrived in northern part of Japan: eastern, central, western part of pacific coast of Hokkaido, Pacific coast of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Chiba prefecture, Kujukuri, & Sotoboare and Izu islands. The earthquake in Japan also triggered warning in other countries such as Taiwan, Indonesia, Russia, Philippines, the pacific Islands, and as far away as Hawaii, Mexico and Colombia. The earthquake happened in 14:46, and the tsunami warning was issued at 14:49, and it was on the JMA website on 14:49. The hypo-central region of this earthquake extends from offshore Iwate prefecture to offshore Ibaraki prefecture so that the most effected area were Iwate prefecture, Myagi prefecture, Fukushima prefecture and Ibaraki prefecture The Japanese Meteorological Agency said that the earthquake may have ruptured the fault zone from Iwate to Ibaraki with a length of 500 km and a width of 200 km. Following the 9.0 magnitude earthquake, massive waves of debris-filled water swept away buildings, cars, and ships. Fires occurred in several cities and nuclear power plants, refineries, airports, and parts of the transport networks were shut down. As of 23rd March, the resulted death was nearly 9,079, and 12,782 missing. The disaster also damaged 126,000 buildings, besides damaging other infrastructure, such as bridges, transportation system,
Tsunami at Natori, Japan Source: National Geographic News
36 An Overview
electricity, gas supplies, and communication services. Citigroup expects 5-10 trillion yen in damage to housing and infrastructure, while Barclays Capital estimates economic losses of 15 trillion yen ($183.7 billion) or 3 percent of Japan’s GDP. iii. Fire Events On 11th March, several fires’ resulted due to powerful earthquake triggered near the east coast of Honshu, the largest and main island of Japan. Fire broke out at Cosmo Oil Company refinery in Ichihara city. The fire continued till 14th March. The number of events increased after the first day of earthquake, when only 44 cases were recorded. It increased to 325 cases on 19th March. iv. Nuclear Emergency
Same day at 20:30 CET (04:30 JST), a nuclear emergency situation at the Fukushima Daiichi (number one) nuclear power plant was declared. Because of the intense earthquake all the three operating (out of six) reactors automatically began the process to be shut down. The back-up diesel generators for supplying the water to cool down the fuel rods inside the reactors due to the tsunami were damaged. The water available began to evaporate and at 15:30 JST on March 12 a first hydrogen explosion took place at the number one reactor and led the Japanese government to evacuate people within a 20 km radius around the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. On March 14 at 11:01 JST, another explosion took place in reactor number 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. At 06:14 JST on March 15, another explosion took place in the number 2 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. And a fire broke out in the number 4 reactor where spent fuel rods were stored to undergo their cooling process, soon after the fire was extinguished. These incidents led to further increase of emission of radiation with levels up to 400 millisievert per hour near the site. (A person is normally not to be exposed to more than
Source: Fire at Yuriage in Natori, Japan Source: National Geographic News
37 Disaster Management in India
Nuclear Emergency at Fukushima, Daiichi Source: National Geographic News
2.4 millisivert per year!) Subsequently, the Japanese Government established a 30km radius “No Fly Zone” around the Fukhushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. On March 17, the helicopters’ water spraying supported by further units of the Self Defense Force (SDF) shot water from the ground, using heavy water cannon trucks, into the most troubled number 3 reactor which continued the following days. Meanwhile new power cables were installed to provide the reactors number 1 and 2 with energy to start-up again the cooling mechanisms. Increased radiation levels were reported in spinach, milk and tap water outside the demarcated 30km evacuation zone. Farmers were advised to voluntarily avoid distributing contaminated food into the markets.
V. Lessons
This recent event is a pointer to the need to have a multi-hazard approach and plan to handle unexpected disasters. Japan as a country is one of the best prepared countries, yet had to face the cascading impact of disasters starting from the large undersea earthquake, resultant Tsunami, fire and nuclear and energy related emergencies in addition to the disaster linked loss of life, livelihood assets etc. Soldiers of Japan Self-Defense Force and firefighters search for the victims in the rubbles in Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Source: www.foxnews.com
38 An Overview
Extracts from the report- MEGA DISASTER IN A RESILIENT SOCIETY - The Great East Japan (Tohoku Kanto) Earthquake and Tsunami of 11th March 2011 - SYNTHESIS AND INITIAL OBSERVATIONS, International Environment and Disaster Management Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies Kyoto University, 25th March, 2011.
1.20 Stampede18 The term stampede is applied to a sudden rush of a crowd of people, usually resulting in many injuries and death from suffocation and trampling. In stampede, the term mob or crowd is used to refer to a congregated, active, polarized aggregate of people, which is basically heterogeneous and complex. Its most salient features include homogeneity of thought and action among its participants and their impulsive and irrational actions. 1.20.1 Causes: Incidents of stampedes can occur in numerous socio-cultural situations. These stampede incidents can be categorized into the following types, where the causes and the impact are described in the incident. Though the list is not exhaustive, it provides a fair idea about various types of situations where stampedes can occur.
x Entertainment events x Power failure x Escalator and moving walkways x Religious events x Food distribution x Fire incidents during religious/other events x Processions x Riots x Natural disasters x Sports events x Weather related
39 Disaster Management in India
The details of some of the major stampedes in India may be seen form the Table 1.17.
Table 1.17: Major Stampedes in India - 2005-2010
Month & Year Event No. of Deaths Injured January 2005: Hindu pilgrims stampede near a remote 265 temple in Maharashtra, India. December 2005: Flood relief supplies were handed out to 42 homeless refugees in southern India October 3, 2007 Train station in northern India 14 March 27, 2008 Indian temple crush during a pilgrimage 8 10 August 3, 2008 At the Naina Devi temple in Himachal 138 47 Pradesh September 30, 2008 At the Chamunda Devi temple in 147 Jodhpur, India. March 4, 2010 At Ram Janki Temple, in Kunda, India 71 200 January 14, 2011 At Sabarimala, Kerala 104 50
Source: NIDM 1.21. Nuclear Emergencies19 1.21.1 Nuclear emergency /Disaster is caused due to an extraordinary release of radioactive material or radiation either in the operation of nuclear reactors or other nuclear events like explosion of a Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) or Improvised Nuclear Device (IND) or explosion of a nuclear weapon. It is accompanied with sudden release of harmful radiations or radioactive materials or both together in to the environment.
(i) Nuclear emergency may be encountered in the following situations: Intentional use of nuclear weapons in the event of war: Nuclear attacks may make use of nuclear weapons, which are extremely destructive and powerful enough to destroy an entire city. With the advancement of scientific research in the world, several countries have acquired the technology to produce nuclear weapons, which are more destructive and harmful than the atom bomb used more than half a century ago against Japan during the Second World War.
(ii) Accidents in nuclear power project: The nuclear Power Plants take care of safety by Engineered safety features by design and redundancy in safety systems to prevent any mal-operations and to bring the system to a safe shut down in case of any abnormalities. However, in case of a major malfunction, there is a remote possibility of release of radioactivity/ radiation to the environment. The area affected would depend on the amount of the release, and wind direction, speed and weather conditions.
(iii) Accidents in handling radiation sources :Other accidental exposure of radiation could be due to accident with the radioactive material during transportation, wrong/faulty practices, failure of machinery of a radiation facility etc. A brief summary of the accidents between 1987 to 2010 are given in Table 1.18.
40 An Overview
Table 1.18: Incidents in Nuclear Facilities in India
Date & Month Place Event 4 May 1987 Kalpakkam, India In an incident during refueling of FBTR, structural deformation happened in some of the fuel assemblies. There was no release of radioactivity. The reactor remained shut down for about two years for restoration which involved development of special tools, inspection and removal of affected fuel assemblies. 13 May 1992 Tarapur, Maharashtra, India There was a minor tube leak in one heat exchanger which was subsequently replaced. Radioactivity released was within the regulated limits 31 Mar 1993 Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, A fire occurred in Turbine building which is not a India part of reactor system. This resulted in damage of the steam turbine blades. The reactor was brought to safe shutdown state. The unit was restarted after Regulatory approval 22 Oct 2002 Kalpakkam, India About 75 kg of sodium from primary sodium purification line at Fast Breeder Test Reactor leaked inside the purification cabin. There was no fire or any release of radioactivity. April 2010 Mayapuri, Delhi India In a radiological accident, an irradiator was sold to metal scrap dealer. The dealer dismantled the irradiator which caused release of radioactive source resulting the exposure to a worker in the shop leads to one fatality
Source: Babha Automic Research Centre, Mumbai 1.21.3 Radiation releases due to any reason can be devastating - Chernobyl is a good example. With modern reactor design, a catastrophic release of radiation is highly unlikely, but nevertheless, possible. This can happen due to factors beyond the control of the operating agencies e.g., human error, system failure, sabotage, earthquake, cyclone, flood and tsunami etc. 1.22 Road Accidents18 1.22.1 The rapid expansion of road transport has brought with it the challenge of addressing adverse factors such as the increase in road accidents. Road accidents are a human tragedy. It involves high human suffering and monetary costs in terms of premature deaths, injuries, loss of productivity etc. Most deaths and injuries due to road accidents are invisible to society. They are a hidden epidemic. In India, motor vehicles including two wheelers are growing at a faster rate then the economic and population growth.
1.22.2 Global Status Report on Road Safety (WHO, 2009) has estimated that 1.2 million people die on the world’s road every year, and as many as 50 million others are injured. Over 90% of deaths occurred in low income and middle income countries, which have only 48% of the world’s registered vehicles. The problem of road safety is acute in India. In the year 2008 alone, number of road accidents were 4.8 lakh resulting in close to 1.2 lakh deaths and 5.2 lakh injured, many of whom are disabled for rest of their lives. Sadly, many of these victims are economically active young people.
41 Disaster Management in India
1.22.3 Trends in accidents, injuries, fatalities, motor vehicles & road network: Between 1970 and 2008, the number of accidents quadrupled with more than 7 fold increase in injuries and more than 8 fold increase in fatalities in the backdrop of about 64 fold increase in the number of registered motor vehicles and threefold increase in road network. 1.22.4 Profile of road accidents: The proportion of fatal accidents in the total road accidents has consistently increased since 2001 as reflected in Table 1.19 and 1.20. The severity of road accidents measured in terms of persons killed per 100 accidents is observed to have increased from less than 20 in 2001 to 24.7 in 2008.
Table 1.19: Number of Accidents and Number of Persons Involved : 2001 to 2008
Year Number of Accidents Number of Persons Accident Severity* Total Fatal Killed Injured 2001 405637 71219 (17.6) 80888 405216 19.9 2002 407497 73650 (18.1) 84674 408711 20.8 2003 406726 73589 (18.1) 85998 435122 21.1 2004 429910 79357 (18.5) 92618 464521 21.5 2005 439255 83491 (19.0) 94968 465282 21.6 2006 460920 93917 (20.4) 105749 496481 22.9 2007 479216 101161 (21.1) 114444 513340 23.8 2008 (P) 484704 106591 (22.0) 119860 523193 24.7 (P): Provisional; Source: Information supplied by States/UTs. Figures within parenthesis indicate share of fatal accidents (i.e. involving death) to total accidents. * Accident Severity : No. of Persons Killed per 100 Accidents
Source: Transport Research Wing, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, GOI
Figure 1.17 shows that there is increasing trend in road accidents and death from year 2001 - 2008. Figure 1.17: Graphic presentation showing number of 1.22.5 Road Accidents: Inter State accidents and person killed (2001-2008) Comparisons: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka which had a share of around 30.4 % in total 600000 number of vehicles registered in India in 2006, accounted for about 500000 38% of the total road accidents , 28 % 400000 of the total number of persons killed and 35% of the total persons injured 300000 Total no of accident in road accidents in year 2008 (Table Killed 1.17). 200000
100000
0 2001 20022003 20042005 2006 20072008
42 An Overview
Table 1.20: All India Share of Select States (in %): Road Accidents and Registered Motor Vehicles
State/UT 2005 2006 2007 2008(P) Top 5 States: Share in Total Number of Road Accidents (in %) Share of 5 States 54.4 55.4 55.4 55.4 1 Maharashtra 16.5 16.4 15.4 15.6 2 Tamilnadu 12.3 12 12.3 12.5 3 Karnataka 9.2 9.4 9.7 9.5 4 Madhya Pradesh 8 8.3 8.8 9 5 Andhra Pradesh 8.5 9.5 9.2 8.8 Share of the above 5 States in total 43.3 43.6 - - Registered Vehicle Source: Transport Research Wing, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, GOI 1.22.6 Classification of Accidents: National Highways accounted for 29% in total road accidents and 36% in total number of persons killed in 2008. Similarly, State Highways accounted for 26%of total accidents and a share of close to 28 % in the total number of persons killed in road accidents in 2008 (Table 1.21). Highways permit greater speed resulting in relatively greater number of road accidents and fatalities.
Table 1.21: Number of Accidents, persons killed & injured as per road classification (2008)
Road Classification National Highways State Highways Other Roads No. of Accidents 137995 (28.47) 123972 (25.58) 222737 (45.95) No. of Persons Killed 42670 (35.60) 34081 (28.43) 43109 (35.97) No. of Persons Injured 149693 (28.61) 143708 (27.47) 229792 (43.92) Note: Figures within parenthesis indicate share in total accidents, killed and injured in the respective road categories.
Figure 1.18 shows that, there is increased percentage of accidents in other roads than the national state highways and Figure 1.19 shows that there is loss of life similar to other road and national highways but less life loss in state highways.
Figure 1.18: No. of Accidents as per raod Figure 1.19: No. of Persons Killed as per road classification in 2008 classification in 2008
28.47% 35.60% 45.95% 35.97% 25.58% 28.43%
National Highway State Highways Other Roads
43 Disaster Management in India
1.22.7 International Comparisons of Road Traffic Injury, Accidents and Deaths:Cross country comparisons of incidence of road accident related deaths and injury accidents per lakh persons as per World Road Statistics 2009 (published by International Road Federation, Geneva) shows lower incidence of both the parameters for India in comparison to many developed and developing countries. The number of road accident deaths per lakh of population at 10.5 in India was much lower compared with 12.72 in Korea and 13.68 in USA. Similarly, injury accidents per lakh of population for both in India and China were substantially lower at around 36.69 and 24.82 respectively when compared to U.K. (298.54), USA (579.68), France (131.75), Germany (408.23). 1.23 Rail Accidents21 1.23.1 Based on the definition of the Disaster Management Act 2005, Ministry of Railways has adopted the following definition on Railway Disaster: “Railway Disaster is a serious train accident or an untoward event of grave nature, either on railway premises or arising out of railway activity, due to natural or human-made causes, that may lead to loss of many lives and /or grievous injuries to a large number of people, and/or severe disruption of traffic etc, necessitating large scale help from other government/non-government and private organizations.” 1.23.2 Nodal Department for policy Formulation on DM on Indian Railways: The preparation of Disaster Management Plan on Indian railways and on the Zonal Railways in coordination with the different Departments of the Railway, other Central/State Govt. agencies, NGOs, private agencies, etc. has to be done by the Safety Department in the railway Board, on the Zonal Railway and Divisions. Railway Board has approved the nomination of GMs, AGMs or CSOs (when GM/ AGM is not available) for declaring an untoward incident as a Railway Disaster. 1.23.4 Train accident analysis: The statistics of the death and injured in the consequential train accidents during the last ten years are given in Table 1.22:
Table 1.22: Train Accidents in India between 1999-2009
Year Collisions Derail- LC Fire Misc Death Injured Total Acct./ ments Accidents MTKm 1999-00 20 329 93 21 - 616 1121 463 0.65 2000-01 20 350 84 17 2 216 488 473 0.65 2001-02 30 280 88 9 8 326 808 415 0.55 2002-03 16 218 96 14 7 418 982 351 0.44 2003-04 9 202 95 14 5 294 492 325 0.41 2004-05 13 138 70 10 3 236 412 234 0.29 2005-06 9 131 75 15 4 315 627 234 0.28 2006-07 8 96 79 4 8 208 402 195 0.23 2007-08 8 100 77 5 4 186 412 194 0.22 2008-09 13 85 69 3 7 207 416 177 0.20
Source: Safety Railway Board, Ministry of Railways There is a visible decreasing trend in rail accidents and deaths from the year 1999-2009 as shown in Figure 1.20. It shows that there is a better preparedness and latest technologies has helped in reducing the train accidents and subsequent deaths.
44 An Overview
Figure 1.20: Graphical presentation of Train accident: number of accidents and deaths (1999-2009) 700
600 616
500 463 473 Total no. of accidents 415 418 Deaths 400 351 325 300 326 315 234 294 234 207 208 194 200 236 216 195 186 177 100
0
1.24 Air Accidents22 1.24.1 Air accidents are by and large of four types; mid-air collisions, forced landings, crash due to technical snags and air-crash in mountainous terrain due to poor visibility. While air accidents can occur at any time and at any place, areas within about 30 – 40 kms. radius of airports are most vulnerable. Experience shows that a majority of air accidents occur either during take-off or landing near major airports where flight paths get congested. In addition, air accidents also take place at remote inaccessible places like forests, hilly and mountainous regions, high seas, etc. Accidents to Indian Civil Registered Aircraft from 1990 to 2000 may be seen in Table 1.23. 1.24.2 Causes: Causes of air accidents are either human failure of pilots, air traffic controllers or technical failures of on board, landing instruments. In rare cases, it may also be the result of terrorist activities. Table 1.23: Accidents to Indian Civil Registered Aircraft from 1990 to 2000
S/N Date/ Place A/c Type/Regn. Operator Fatalities Damage Details 1. 14/02/1990 Airbus A-320 VT-EPN Indian Airlines 92 Destroyed Banglore 2. 16/08/1991, Boeing 737 VT Indian Airlines 69 Destroyed Imphal 3. 05/09/1991, Pushpak MK -1 Delhi Flying Club 2 Patiala
45 Disaster Management in India
S/N Date/ Place A/c Type/Regn. Operator Fatalities Damage Details 3. 26/04/1993, #PFJOH75&$2 Indian Airlines 55 Destroyed Aurangabad 4. 11/07/1996, L-410, VT-ETC Archna Airways 9 Destroyed Near Kullu 5. 12/11/1996, B-747 & IL-76 Saudi Arabian 349 Destroyed New Delhi SV-763 & KZ- 1907 Kazakhstan 6. 17/7/2000, B-737-200 VT-EGD Alliance Air 60 Destroyed Patna 7. 29/7/2000, Super King Air B 200 VT-EIE Aerial Svc. Pvt. Ltd 5 Destroyed Near Mandi, HP 8. 4 September Air India flight 829, a Air India 21 Injured Partially 2009, Boeing 747-400 damaged Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai 9 22, May 2010, Flight No. 812, Boeing 737- Air India 158 died Destroyed Manglore, 800 International Airport
Source: Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA)
1.25 Mine Disasters23 1.25.1 Mines Act, 1965 defines Disaster as an act Accident (unexpect event) causing loss of more than 10 lives. A mining accident is an accident that occurs in the process of mining minerals. The Act categories an accident involving loss of lives less than 10 major accident. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially in the process of coal mining and hard rock mining. One of the greatest mining disasters in Indian mines occurred on 27 December 1975 due to water in rush from old abandoned incline working to a deep shaft mine working of Chasnallah Colliery leading to death of 375 miners.
1.25.2 Following types of mining disasters, losses and impacts are classified by the DGMS.
t 4JEFGBMM TMPQFGBJMVSF EJTBTUFSJOPQFODBTUNJOFT t "DDJEFOUEVFUPFMFDUSJDJUZ t 3PPGBOETJEFGBMMTJOVOEFSHSPVOENJOFT t .JOFöSFT t $PMMBQTFPGNJOFQJMMBST t "DDJEFOUTEVFUPFYQMPTJWF t "JS#MBTU t *OVOEBUJPOT t 'BJMVSFPGSPQFIBVMBHF t &YQMPTJPOTJONJOFT t 3PDLCVSTUBOECVNQT
1.25.4 The details of disasters involving 10 or more fatalities in both coal & Non coal mines in India are given in the Table 1.24 and 1.25.
46 An Overview
Table 1.24: Detail of Disasters (more than 10 fatalities) in Coal Mines during 1901- 2010 in India Sl. No. Date of Accident Name of Mine Killed S/Injured Brief Cause 1 16-Jun-1908 Nadir Khas 20 0 Explosions of fire-damp 2 7-Feb-1910 Dishergarh 11 0 Explosion of fire-damp 3 15-Oct-1910 Sitalpur 12 0 Fall of roof 4 26-Nov-1910 Namdang 14 4 Explosion of fire-damp 5 9-Nov-1911 Kendwadih 14 0 Explosion of fire-damp 6 11-Jul-1912 phularitand 21 0 Irruption of water 7 28-Jun-1913 Jotejanake 13 0 Irruption of water 8 22-Oct-1913 Chowrasi 27 0 Explosion of fire-damp 9 31-Aug-1915 Chanda 10 0 Miscellaneous on Surface 10 4-Feb-1916 Bhowra 24 0 Miscellaneous on Surface 11 20-Jul-1916 Dishergarh 14 4 Explosion of Fire-damp 12 18-Nov-1918 Dishergarh 10 4 Explosion of Fire-damp 13 24-Nov-1919 Kustore South 14 0 In Shaft (Rope/Chain Breaking) 14 28-Feb-1921 Amlabad 11 0 Explosion or Fire-damp 15 9-Mar-1922 Khost 13 3 Explosions 16 4-Jan-1923 Parbelia 74 0 Explosion/Ignition of Firedamp 17 14-Apr-1923 Rawanwara 16 1 Fall of Roof 18 17-Feb-1931 Nongah 13 3 Explosives 19 16-Jan-1935 Loyabad 11 0 Irruption of Water 20 29-Jun-1935 Bagdigi 19 7 Explosion/Ignition of Firedamp 21 24-Jul-1935 Kurhurbaree 62 14 Explosion/Ignition of Firedamp 22 30-Jan-1936 Loyabad 35 0 Fire/Suffocation by Gases 23 18-Dec-1936 Poidih 209 0 Explosion/Ignition of Firedamp 24 6-Jul-1942 Makerwal 14 0 Irruption of Water 25 22-Feb-1943 Sodepur 9, 10 & 13 3 Fall of Roof 11 Pits 26 8-Oct-1943 Jhamuria 7 & 12 1 Sundries Underground 8 Pits 27 19-Mar-1946 Begunia 13 0 Explosion/Ignition of Firedamp 28 12-Jul-1952 Dhemo Main 12 0 Fall of Roof 29 5-Aug-1953 Majri 11 0 Irruption of Water 30 14-Mar-1954 Damra 10 0 Explosion/Ignition of Firedamp 31 10-Dec-1954 Newton Chikli 63 0 Irruption of Water 32 5-Feb-1955 Amlabad 52 1 Explosion of Inflamable Gas 33 26-Sep-1956 Burradhemo 28 0 Irruption of Water 34 19-Feb-1958 Chinakuri 1 & 176 7 Explosions 2 Pits 35 20-Feb-1958 Central 23 0 Irruption of Water Bhowrah 36 5-Jan-1960 Damua 16 0 Irruption of Water 37 28-May-1965 Dhori 268 9 Explosion of Coal Dust 38 11-Apr-1968 West Chirimiri 14 16 Fall of Sides
47 Disaster Management in India
Sl. No. Date of Accident Name of Mine Killed S/Injured Brief Cause 39 18-Mar-1973 Noonodih 48 13 Explosion/Ignition of Gas/Dust Jitpur 40 8-Aug-1975 Kessurgarh 11 1 Fall of Roof 41 18-Nov-1975 Silewara 10 1 Irruption of Water 42 27-Dec-1975 Chasnalla 375 0 Irruption of Water 43 16-Sep-1976 Central Saunda 10 0 Irruption of Water 44 4-Oct-1976 Sudamdih Shaft 43 3 Explosion/Ignition of Gas/Dust 45 22-Jan-1979 Baragolai 16 0 Explosion/Ignition of Gas/Dust 46 24-Jun-1981 Jagannath 10 4 Fire 47 16-Jul-1982 Topa 16 4 Fall of Roof 48 14-Sep-1983 Hurriladih 19 0 Inundation 49 25-Jan-1994 New Kenda 55 0 Fire 50 27-Sep-1995 Gaslitand 64 0 Irruption of Water 51 3-Mar-1997 New Moghla 10 12 Explosion/Ignition of Gas/Dust 52 24-Jun-2000 Kawadi 10 0 Fall of Sides Opencast Mine 53 2-Feb-2001 Bagdigi 29 0 Irruption of Water 54 16-Jun-2003 Godavari Khani 17 0 Irruption of Water No.7 LEP 55 17-Oct-2003 Godavari Khani 10 2 Fall of Roof No. 8A 56 15-Jun-2005 Central Sounda 14 0 Irruption of Water 57 6-Sep-2006 Bhatdee 50 0 Explosion/Ignition of Gas/Dust 58 6-May-2010 Anjan Hill 14 5 Other explosive accident Source: Directorate of Mines Safety Table 1. 25: Detail of Disasters (more than 10 fatalities) in Non-Coal Mines during 1901- 2010 Sl. Date of Name of Mine Killed S/Injured Brief Cuase No. Accident 1 6-Dec-1910 Shivrajpur Manganese 12 0 Fall of Sides 2 18-Sep-1920 Badwin Lead-Silver 11 0 In Shaft Ascending/ Descending 3 16-May-1929 Bawdwin Silver-Lead- 10 0 Fall of Roof Zinc 4 12-Apr-1932 Lady Rangi Mica 19 0 Suffocation by Gases 5 19-Apr-1952 Champion Reef Gold 20 4 Rock Burst 6 30-Jun-1952 Champion Reef Gold 10 5 Rock Burst 7 27-May-1955 Champion Reef Gold 10 8 Rock Burst 8 29-Sep-1957 Rajupalem Barytes 11 2 Fall of Sides 9 28-Aug-1994 Rajpura Dariba Galena 13 0 Irruption of Water & Sphal. 10 25-Feb-2010 Hamsa Mineral Granite 14 1 Fall of sides(other than Mine overhang) Source: Directorate of Mines Safety
48 An Overview
Mining accidents can have a variety of causes, including leaks of poisonous gases such as methane or explosive natural gas called firedamp, asphyxiant gases, dust explosions, collapsing of mine stops, flooding or general mechanical errors from improperly used or malfunctioning of mining equipment. 1.25.5 A statistical analysis of major mining accidents (more than four fatalities) in 1901-2010 (Table 1.26.) revealed that about 334 numbers of incidences caused 3672 fatalities.
Table 1.26: Major accidents (more than four fatalities) in mines – cause wise (1901-2010)
Cause Number of Percentage of total Fatalities Percentage of incidences incidence total fatalities Explosion 38 11.37 1267 34.50 Inrush of water 35 10.47 836 22.76 Roof/side fall 218 65.26 1224 33.33 Mine fire 6 1.79 109 2.96 Suffocation of gas 6 1.79 40 1.08 Winding in shafts 17 5.08 100 2.72 Explosives 14 4.19 96 2.61 Total 334 3672
Source: Directorate of Mines Safety 1.26 Epidemics in India24 1.26.1 Infectious diseases are a major public health problem in India. While many infectious diseases like tuberculosis and malaria are endemic, some of them occasionally attain epidemic proportion. An epidemic refers to an increase, often sudden, in number of cases of a disease in a community clearly in excess of what is normally expected in that population. Epidemics are public health emergencies which disrupt routine health services and are major drain on resources. Epidemics include viral infections disease (mengitis, measles, dengue, polio, typhoid fever etc.) and Bacterial infectious diseases (cholera, diarrheoa etc.) The main causes for epidemic are non availability of clean and hygienic drinking water contamination of drinking water sources, lack of awareness about sanitation, unhygienic food, overcrowding, biological conditions in addition to ecological factors. Besides direct costs in epidemic control measures and treatment of patients, the indirect costs due to negative impact on domestic and international tourism and trade can be significant. For example, plague which was not reported from any part of India for almost a quarter of century, caused a major outbreak in Beed district in Maharashtra and Surat in Gujarat in 1994 and resulted in an estimated loss of almost US$ 1.7 billion. 1.26.2 Several factors related to microbes, environment and host susceptibility contribute to the occurrence of epidemics. Because of prevalence of these factors, developing countries including India are frequently affected by epidemics/ outbreaks which result in high morbidity and mortality and affect the public health and economy adversely. Outbreaks reported by States under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) during the period 2008-2010 are shown in Table 1.27.
49 Disaster Management in India
Table 1.27: Disease-wise outbreaks/epidemics reported by states under IDSP, 2008-10 Sl. No. Disease/Illness No. of outbreaks Total 2008 2009 2010 1 Acute Diarrhoeal Disease 228 332 411 971 2 Food Poisoning 50 121 188 359 3 Measles 40 44 94 178 4 Malaria 43 34 37 114 5 Chikungunya 25 61 25 111 6 Viral Fever 31 37 40 108 7 Chicken Pox 12 45 47 104 8 Dengue 42 20 40 102 9 Cholera 20 34 34 88 10 Viral Hepatitis 28 30 24 82 11 Enteric Fever 6 10 10 26 12 Acute Encephalitis Syndrome 6 5 11 22 13 Leptospirosis 6 3 6 15 14 Anthrax 2 6 3 11 15 Acute Respiratory Illness 4 3 3 10 16 Meningitis 2 3 1 6 17 Mumps 0 2 3 5 18 Scrub Typhus 3 1 1 5 19 Dysentery 0 1 3 4 20 Kalazar 1 0 3 4 21 PUO 2 2 1 5 22 Diphtheria 1 1 1 3 23 Rubella 0 1 2 3 24 Others 1 3 2 6 Total 553 799 990 2342
Source: National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) 1.26.3 As shown in the Table 1.27, most of the outbreaks/epidemics reported in India are due to water-borne diseases, vector-borne diseases and vaccine preventable diseases. While National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme (NVBDCP) is the key programme for prevention/ control of outbreak of epidemics of malaria, dengue, chikungunya etc, vaccines administered under UIP/EPI reduce the morbidity and mortality due to diseases like measles, diphtheria, pertussis, poliomyelitis etc. Availability of safe water and adoption of personal and domestic hygienic practices are important measures to prevent/control epidemics of water-borne diseases like cholera, viral hepatitis etc. 1.27 Deaths due to Unnatural Cause25 1.27.1 A comparative list prepared by National Crime Record Bureau, MHA for year 2008 and 2009 in respect of death due to unnatural cause have been given in Table 1.28, which would show the enormity of problems leading to such deaths which attracts little attention due to their sporadic nature and such calamity happening in a diffused manner and not in one event generally.
50 An Overview
Table 1.28: Incidence, Share & Rate of Accidental Deaths by Causes Attributable to Nature and Un- Natural Causes during 2008 & 2009 Sl. Cause 2008 2009 % variation No. of No. % share Rate No. % share Rate incidences (w.r.t. All (w.r.t. All in 2009 over India) India) 2009 (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) A. Causes Attributable To Nature: 1 Avalanche 47 0 0 22 0 0 -53.2 2 Cold and Exposure 836 0.2 0.1 742 0.2 0.1 -11.2 3 Cyclone/Tornado 99 0 0 128 0 0 29.3 4 Starvation/Thirst 227 0.1 0 175 0 0 -22.9 5 Earthquake 6 0 0 2 0 0 -66.7 6 Epidemic 73 0 0 75 0 0 2.7 7 Flood 861 0.3 0.1 726 0.2 0.1 -15.7 8 Heat Stroke 616 0.2 0.1 1071 0.3 0.1 73.9 9 Landslide 340 0.1 0 394 0.1 0 15.9 10 Lightning 2553 0.7 0.2 2113 0.6 0.2 -17.2 11 Torrential Rains 148 0 0 132 0 0 -10.8 12 Other causes attributable 18187 5.3 1.6 16675 4.7 1.4 -8.3 to nature Total (A) 23993 7 2.1 22255 6.2 1.9 -7.2 B. Un-Natural Causes 1 Air-Crash 19 0 0 12 0 0 -36.8 2 Collapse of Structure: 2833 0.8 0.2 2847 0.8 0.2 0.5 (i) House 1173 0.3 0.1 1091 0.3 0.1 -7 (ii) Building 249 0.1 0 265 0.1 0 6.4 (iii)Dam 66 0 0 30 0 0 -54.5 (iv) Bridge 93 0 0 44 0 0 -52.7 (v) Others 1252 0.4 0.1 1417 0.4 0.1 13.2 3 Drowning: 27206 7.9 2.4 25911 7.3 2.2 -4.8 (i) Boat Capsize 979 0.3 0.1 984 0.3 0.1 0.5 (ii) Other Cases 26227 7.7 2.3 24927 7 2.1 -5 4 Electrocution: 8067 2.4 0.7 8539 2.4 0.7 5.9 5 Explosion: 792 0.2 0.1 668 0.2 0.1 -15.7 (i) Bomb explosion 490 0.1 0 261 0.1 0 -46.7 (ii) Other explosion 302 0.1 0 407 0.1 0 34.8 (Boilers etc.) 6 Falls: 10637 3.1 0.9 10622 3 0.9 -0.1 (i) Fall from Height 8757 2.6 0.8 8796 2.5 0.8 0.4 (ii) Fall into Pit/Manhole 1880 0.5 0.2 1826 0.5 0.2 -2.9 etc. 7 Factory/Machine 858 0.3 0.1 1044 0.3 0.1 21.7 Accidents 8 Fire: 22454 6.6 1.9 23268 6.5 2 3.6 (i) Fireworks/Crackers 342 0.1 0 547 0.2 0 59.9 (ii) Short-Circuit 1098 0.3 0.1 1328 0.4 0.1 20.9 (iii) Gas Cylinder/Stove 3628 1.1 0.3 4127 1.2 0.4 13.8 Burst
51 Disaster Management in India
Sl. Cause 2008 2009 % variation No. of No. % share Rate No. % share Rate incidences (w.r.t. All (w.r.t. All in 2009 over India) India) 2009 (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (iv) Other Fire Accidents 17386 5.1 1.5 17266 4.8 1.5 -0.7 9 Fire-Arms 1639 0.5 0.1 1504 0.4 0.1 -8.2 10 Sudden Deaths: 22738 6.6 2 24836 7 2.1 9.2 (i) Heart Attacks 14397 4.2 1.2 16007 4.5 1.4 11.2 (ii) Epileptic Fits/ 3182 0.9 0.3 3535 1 0.3 11.1 Giddiness (iii) Abortions/Child Birth 851 0.2 0.1 811 0.2 0.1 -4.7 (iv) Influence of Alcohol 4308 1.3 0.4 4483 1.3 0.4 4.1 11 Killed by animals 827 0.2 0.1 962 0.3 0.1 16.3 12 Mines or quarry disaster 371 0.1 0 423 0.1 0 14 13 Poisoning: 24261 7.1 2.1 26634 7.5 2.3 9.8 (i) Food Poisoning/ 7829 2.3 0.7 8154 2.3 0.7 4.2 Accidental Intake of Insecticide (ii) Spurious/poisonous 1358 0.4 0.1 1450 0.4 0.1 6.8 liquor (iii) Leakage of poisonous 247 0.1 0 247 0.1 0 0 gases Etc. (iv) Snake Bite/Animal 7825 2.3 0.7 8035 2.3 0.7 2.7 Bite (v) Other 7002 2 0.6 8748 2.5 0.7 24.9 14 Stampede 434 0.1 0 110 0 0 -74.7 15 Suffocation 1496 0.4 0.1 1257 0.4 0.1 -16 16 Traffic Accidents: 144587 42.2 12.5 152689 42.8 13.1 5.6 (i) Road Accidents 118239 34.5 10.3 126896 35.5 10.9 7.3 (ii) Rail-Road Accidents 2222 0.6 0.2 1516 0.4 0.1 -31.8 (iii) Other Railway 24126 7 2.1 24277 6.8 2.1 0.6 Accidents 17 Other Causes 35135 10.3 3 35906 10.1 3.1 2.2 18 Causes Not Known 13962 4.1 1.2 17534 4.9 1.5 25.6 Total (B) 318316 93 27.6 334766 93.8 28.6 5.2 Grand Total (A+B) 342309 100 29.7 357021 100 30.5 4.3 Source: NCRB 1.27.2 Analysis of deaths due to Accidents: Accidents - human-made and natural - are among the two most important reasons of pre-mature end to human lives. Injuries resulting from the accidents handicap many people. These unfortunate victims are important members of their families as well as of the society. This way, the loss due to accidents and suicides is felt by family members and society at large. The deep and wide impact of accidents and suicides make it incumbent upon society to make efforts at reducing the incidence of these phenomena. Appropriate intervention measures can be devised only after studying various facets of these phenomena. Detailed data is a sine qua non for any study. While individual disaster and event data maintained by the states and reported to the GOI may not accurately tally with the
52 An Overview
Figure 1.21: Unnatural deaths in 2009- Causes, Number and as a percentage of the Total deaths (357,021)
Source: National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB)
NCRB report as some are maintained calendar year wise and some financial year wise yet the NCRB collected data is a useful data for analysis. This data on accidental deaths due to causes attributable to nature - such as cyclone / tornado, earthquake, flood, landslide and torrential rains, to name a few - as well as those not attributable to nature - for example, explosion, fire, sudden deaths, stampede, traffic accidents and others are revealing. These may be seen from the Figure 1.21. Accidental deaths due to natural causes were 6.2 % and those due to unnatural causes were 93.8% and traffic accidents account for the maximum deaths. These trends are a cause of concern for every class of the society, especially to policy makers principally for two reasons. Firstly, the Government is committed for improving the living conditions of its citizens and Secondly, the loss of these lives results in irreparable damage to the society. 1.28 Conclusion A series of catastrophes across the world in recent times have served as a reminder and backdrop of the chapters following the overview which is an attempt to capture valuable and available information across sectors and departments with focus on disaster management. It is hoped that the information will serve as a tool to improve the roles and capacities of all the stakeholders while facing the hazards, risks and the resultant disasters.
53 Disaster Management in India
Institutional Framework
54 2.1 Evolution of Disaster Management in India Disaster management in India has evolved from an activity-based reactive setup to a proactive institutionalized structure; from single faculty domain to a multi-stakeholder setup; and from a relief-based approach to a ‘multi-dimensional pro-active holistic approach for reducing risk’. The beginnings of an institutional structure for disaster management can be traced to the British period following the series of disasters such as famines of 1900, 1905, 1907 & 1943, and the Bihar-Nepal earthquake of 1937. Over the past century, the disaster management in India has undergone substantive changes in its composition, nature and policy. 2.2 Disaster Management during British Administration and Post Independence During the British administration, relief departments were set up for emergencies during disasters. Such an activity-based setup with a reactive approach was functional only in the post- disaster scenarios. The policy was relief-oriented and activities included designing the relief codes and initialising food for work programmes. Post-Independence, the task for managing disasters continued to rest with the Relief Commissioners in each state, who functioned under the Central Relief Commissioner, with their role limited to delegation of relief material and money in the affected areas. Every five-year plan addressed flood disasters under “Irrigation, Command Area Development and Flood Control”. Until this stage, the disaster management structure was activity-based, functioning under the Relief Departments. 2.3 Emergence of Institutional Arrangement in India A permanent and institutionalised setup began in the decade of 1990s with set up of a disaster management cell under the Ministry of Agriculture, following the declaration of the decade of 1990 as the ‘International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction’ (IDNDR) by the UN General Assembly. Following series of disasters such as Latur Earthquake (1993), Malpa Landslide (1994), Orissa Super Cyclone (1999) and Bhuj Earthquake (2001), a high powered Committee under the Chairmanship of Mr. J.C. Pant, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture was constituted for drawing up a systematic, comprehensive and holistic approach towards disasters. There was a shift in policy from an approach of relief through financial aid to a holistic one for addressing disaster management. Consequently, the disaster management division was shifted under the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2002 vide Cabinet Secretariat’s Notification No. DOC.CD-108/2002 dated 27/02/2002 and a hierarchical structure for disaster management evolved in India. 2.4 Organisation and Structure of Disaster Management The Disaster Management Division is headed by Joint Secretary (DM) in MHA, who is assisted by three Directors, Under Secretaries, Section Officers, Technical Officer, Senior Economic Investigator consultants and other supporting staff. The upper echelon of the structure consists of Secretary (Border Management), Home Secretary, Minister of State in charge and the Home Minister. 2.5 Disaster Management Framework Shifting from relief and response mode, disaster management in India started to address the issues of early warning systems, forecasting and monitoring setup for various weather related hazards. A structure for flow of information, in the form of warnings, alerts and updates about the oncoming hazard, also emerged within this framework. A multi-stakeholder High powered group was setup by involving representatives from different ministries and departments. Some of these ministries were also designated as the nodal authorities for specific disasters.
55 Disaster Management in India
Following a High Powered Committee Report on Disaster Management for establishment of a separate institutional structure for addressing disasters and enactment of a suitable law for institutionalizing disaster management in the country, a multi-level links between these ministries and the disaster management framework have emerged. Disaster Management framework may be seen in Figure 2.8. 2.6 Present Structure for Disaster Management in India 2.6.1 The institutional structure for disaster management in India is in a state of transition. The new setup, following the implementation of the Act, is evolving; while the previous structure also continues (Figure 2.1). Thus, the two structures co-exist at present. The National Disaster Management Authority has been established at the centre, and the SDMA at state and district authorities at district level are gradually being formalized. In addition to this, the National Crisis Management Committee, part of the earlier setup, also functions at the Centre. The nodal ministries, as identified for different disaster types of function under the overall guidance of the Ministry of Home Affairs (nodal ministry for disaster management). This makes the stakeholders interact at different levels within the disaster management framework. 2.6.2 Within this transitional and evolving setup, two distinct features of the institutional structure for disaster management may be noticed. Firstly, the structure is hierarchical and functions at four levels – centre, state, district and local. In both the setups – one that existed prior to the implementation of the Act, and other that is being formalized post-implementation of the Act, there have existed institutionalized structures at the centre, state, district and local levels. Each preceding level guides the activities and decision making at the next level in hierarchy. Secondly, it is a multi-stakeholder setup, i.e., the structure draws involvement of various relevant ministries, government departments and administrative bodies.
Figure 2.1: National Disaster Management Structure
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA Cabinet Committee on Natural Ministry of Home Affairs Calamities High Level Committee
National Institute for Disaster Management C Ministries and Departments of Government of India O NDMA National Disaster Response Force NEC M Planning Commission National Disaster Mitigation Resource (central) Interministerial Committee M STATES Central Para Military Forces Armed Forces U SDMAs SEC Fire Services Ministries and Departments of States N Civil Defence I District Administration State Police Home Guards DDMAs State Disaster Response Force T NYKS and NSS Local Authorities Y
Academic Institutions Professional Bodies Scientific Organizations COMMUNITY Corporate Sectors Technical Institutions NGOs
56 Institutional Framework
2.7 Disaster Management Act, 2005 2.7.1 This Act provides for the effective management of disaster and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. It provides institutional mechanisms for drawing up and monitoring the implementation of the disaster management. The Act also ensures measures by the various wings of the Government for prevention and mitigation of disasters and prompt response to any disaster situation.
2.7.2 The Act provides for setting up of a National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister, State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) under the Chairmanship of the Chief Ministers, District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) under the Chairmanship of Collectors/District Magistrates/Deputy Commissioners. The Act further provides for the constitution of different Executive Committee at national and state levels. Under its aegis, the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) for capacity building and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for response purpose have been set up. It also mandates the concerned Ministries and Departments to draw up their own plans in accordance with the National Plan. The Act further contains the provisions for financial mechanisms such as creation of funds for response, National Disaster Mitigation Fund and similar funds at the state and district levels for the purpose of disaster management. The Act also provides specific roles to local bodies in disaster management.
2.7.3 Further the enactment of 73rd and 74th Amendments to the constitution and emergence of local self- government, both rural and urban, as important tiers of governance, the role of local authorities becomes very important. The DM Act, 2005 also envisages specific roles to be played by the local bodies in disaster management.
2.7.4 Legal - Institutional Framework: A legal institutional framework developed based on the provision of the Act across the country, in vertical and horizontal hierarchical and in the federal setup of country may be seen in the Figure 2.2 for appreciation of response mechanism which has been put in place.
National Level Institutions 2.8. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was initially constituted on May 30, 2005 under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister vide an executive order. Following enactment of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the NDMA was formally constituted in accordance with Section-3(1) of the Act on 27th September, 2006 with Prime Minister as its Chairperson and nine other members, and one such member to be designated as Vice-Chairperson.
2.8.1 Mandate of NDMA: The NDMA has been mandated with laying down policies on disaster management and guidelines which would be followed by different Ministries, Departments of the Government of India and State Government in taking measures for disaster risk reduction. It has also to laid down guidelines to be followed by the State Authorities in drawing up the State Plans and to take such measures for the management of disasters, Details of these responsibilities are given as under :-
(a) Lay down policies on disaster management;
57 Disaster Management in India
Figure 2.2: Legal Institutional Framework
LEGAL-INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK Disaster Management Act 2005
Central National Government MHA Executive (DM ceII) Committee Nodal Ministry NDMA Chair:HS
State Government NIDM NDRF State Executive SDMA Committee Chair:CS District Administration DMD
Panchayat Municipalities DDMA
(b) Approve the National Plan; (c) Approve plans prepared by the Ministries or Departments of the Government of India in accordance with the National Plan; (d) Lay down guidelines to be followed by the State Authorities in drawing up the State Plan; (e) Lay down guidelines to be followed by the different Ministries or Departments of the Government of India for the purpose of integrating the measures for prevention of disaster or the mitigation of its effects in their development plans and projects; (f) Coordinate the enforcement and implementation of the policy and plan for disaster management; (g) Recommend provision of funds for the purpose of mitigation; (h) Provide such support to other countries affected by major disasters as may be determined by the Central Government; (i) Take such other measures for the prevention of disaster, or the mitigation, or preparedness and capacity building for dealing with the threatening disaster situation or disaster as it may consider necessary; (j) Lay down broad policies and guidelines for the functioning of the National Institute of Disaster Management. 2.8.2 Composition of NDMA: Besides the nine members nominated by the Prime Minister, Chairperson of the Authority, the Organisational structure consists of a Secretary and five Joint Secretaries including one Financial Advisor. There are 10 posts of Joint Advisors and Directors,
58 Institutional Framework
14 Assistant Advisors, Under Secretaries and Assistant Financial Advisor and Duty Officer along with supporting staff. Further, Recruitment Rules have been notified as (a) National Disaster Management Authority, Group-‘C’ posts Recruitment Rules, 2009. (b) National Disaster Management Authority (Group ‘A’) Recruitment Rules, 2009. Under Section 7 (1) of DM Act an Advisory Committee with 12 Members has been constituted during 2007. 2.9 National Executive Committee (NEC) 2.9.1 A National Executive Committee is constituted under Section 8 of DM Act, 2005 to assist the National Authority in the performance of its functions. NEC consists of Home Secretary as its Chairperson, ex-officio, with other Secretaries to the Government of India in the Ministries or Departments having administrative control of the agriculture, atomic energy, defence, drinking water supply, environment and forest, finance (expenditure), health, power, rural development science and technology, space, telecommunication, urban development, water resources. The Chief of Integrated Defence Staff of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, ex-officio, is also its Members. 2.9.2 NEC may as and when it considers necessary constitute one or more sub-committees for the efficient discharge of its functions. For the conduct of NEC, Disaster Management National Executive Committee (Procedure and Allowances) Rules, 2006 has been issued which may be visited at www.mha.nic.in. NEC has been given the responsibility to act as the coordinating and monitoring body for disaster management, to prepare a National Plan, monitor the implementation of National Policy etc. vide section 10 of the DM Act. State level Institutions 2.10 State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) The DM Act, 2005 provides for constitution of SDMAs and DDMAs in all the states and UTs. As per the information received from the states and UTs, except Gujarat and Daman & Diu, all the rest have constituted SDMAs under the DM Act, 2005. Gujarat has constituted its SDMA under its Gujarat State Disaster Management Act, 2003. Daman & Diu have also established SDMAs prior to enactment of DM Act 2005. 2.11 State Executive Committee (SEC) The Act envisages establishment of State Executive Committee under Section 20 of the Act, to be headed by Chief Secretary of the state Government with four other Secretaries of such departments as the state Government may think fit. It has the responsibility for coordinating and monitoring the implementation of the National Policy, the National Plan and the State Plan as provided under section 22 of the Act. District level Institutions 2.12 District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) 2.12.1 Section 25 of the DM Act provides for constitution of DDMA for every district of a state. The District Magistrate/ District Collector/Deputy Commissioner heads the Authority as Chairperson besides an elected representative of the local authority as Co-Chairperson except in the tribal areas where the Chief Executive Member of the District Council of Autonomous District is
59 Disaster Management in India designated as Co-Chairperson. Further in district, where Zila Parishad exist, its Chairperson shall be the Co-Chairperson of DDMA. Other members of this authority include the CEO of the District Authority, Superintendant of Police, Chief Medical Officer of the District and other two district level officers are designated by the state Government. 2.12.2 The District Authority is responsible for planning, coordination and implementation of disaster management and to take such measures for disaster management as provided in the guidelines. The District Authority also has the power to examine the construction in any area in the district to enforce the safety standards and also to arrange for relief measures and respond to the disaster at the district level. 2.13. Institutional Framework for Metropolitan Cities In the larger cities (say, with population exceeding 2.5 million), the recommendation of the second Administrative Reforms Commission has suggested that the Mayor, assisted by the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation and the Police Commissioner to be directly responsible for Crisis Management. It has now been accepted by the Government. 2.14 Hierarchical Structure of Authority and Committee In this structure, National Disaster Management Authority is the authority for formulation of policy and guidelines for all disaster management work in the country. The state authorities further lay down the guidelines for departments of the state and the districts falling in their respective jurisdictions. Similarly, district authorities direct the civil administration, departments and local authorities such as the municipalities, police department and civil administration. The State Executive Committees are responsible for execution of the tasks envisaged by the authorities. The structure thus discussed is summarised in the Figure 2.3.
Figure 2.3: Disaster Management Structure in India Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Chair- Prime Minister with other 9 members
National National Executive Committee Advisory Committee National Institute Comprising of representatives from the ministries and Disaster of Disaster departments controlling agriculture, atomic energy, Response Manage- defence, drinking water supply, environment & forests, Force finance, expenditure, health, power, rural development, ment S&T, space, telecommunication, water resources etc.
State Disaster Management Authority (9-member body chaired by the CM of the state)
State Executive Committee Advisory Committee
District Disaster Management Authority (7-member body chaired by the District Magistrate and comprising of representatives from the civil administration
Local Authorities Advisory Committees
60 Institutional Framework
2.15 National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) 2.15.1 Background: In the backdrop of the International decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR), a National Centre for Disaster Management was established at the Indian Institute for Public Administration (IIPA) in 1995. The Centre was upgraded and designated as the National Institute of Disaster management (NIDM) on 16th October 2003. It has now achieved the status of a statutory organisation under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Section 42 of Chapter VII of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 entrusts the institute with numerous responsibilities, namely to develop training modules, undertake research and documentation in disaster management, organise training programmes, undertake and organise study courses, conferences, lectures and seminars to promote and institutionalize disaster management, undertake and provide for publication of journals, research papers and books.
2.15.2 Management Structure: The Union Home Minister is the President of the Institute, It was constituted on 23rd February, 2007 and has a general body of forty two members comprising of secretaries of various ministries,departments of the Union Government and heads of national level scientific, research and technical organizations.
In terms of Section 42(4) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 vide order dated 3rd May, 2007, the Government also constituted a 14 member Governing Body which may be seen in Figure 2.4 of the Institute.
Figure 2.4: Governing Body of National Institute of Disaster Management In terms of Section 42(4) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 read with Rule 6 of the Disaster Management (National Institute of Disaster Management) Rules, 2006, Governing Body of the NIDM has been constituted vide Order No. 45/1/2007-NDM-IV dated 3rd May, 2007 with following members:-
i. The Vice-Chairperson, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairperson ii Union Home Secretary Vice-Chairperson iii Secretary (BM) Member iv Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Department. of Expenditure Member v Secretary/ Additional Secretary, NDMA Member vi Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor, Ministry of Home Affairs Member vii Secretary(Disaster Management), Government of Gujarat Member viii Vice-Chancellor, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi Member ix Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee Member x Director, Indian Institute of Management, Kolkatta Member xi Director, National Eco-physical Research Institute, Hyderabad Member xii Secretary, Department of Space Member xiii Secretary, Department of Science and Technology Member xiv Executive Director, NIDM Member Secretary
61 Disaster Management in India
2.15.3 Organizational Structure – NIDM is headed by an Executive Director along with the faculty and staff. The organizational structure may be seen from the Figure 2.5.
Figure 2.5: Organisational Structure of NIDM
The Institute President: Union Home Minister Vice-President Vice Chairperson NDMA Member Secretary : ED. NIDM
Governing Body Chairman: VC, NDMA Vice Chairman: Union Home Secretary Member Secretary: ED, NIDM
Executive Director
Geo-Hazard Hydro-met Policy Planning and Response Administration & Division Hazard Division Cross Cutting Issues Division Finance Division Division
Inter-Divisional Cells IT Cell Training Cell Emergency Library &and t Seismic Microzonation t Computer Centre t Face-to-Face training Operation PublicationPublication t Retrofitting Clinic t GIS Lab t On Line Training Centre t Climate Change & Disasters t Video-Conferencing t Blended Training t HRV Mapping t Urban Risk Mitigation t Public Private Partnership
2.15. 4 The Institute has four academic divisions t Geo-Hazard Division t Hydro-met Hazard Division t 1PMJDZ1MBOOJOHBOE$SPTT$VUUJOH*TTVFT%JWJTJPO t 3FTQPOTF%JWJTJPO 2.15.5 Location and Facilities: Located centrally at the Indraprastha Estate on the Mahatma Gandhi Road, within the campus of the IIPA, the institute is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities of training and research on disaster management. It has fully air conditioned training and conference halls, a well stocked library, GIS laboratory, computer centre, and a video conference hall. The institute also provides Boarding and lodging facilities for participants of its programmes. 2.16. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) 2.16.1 Constitution and role of NDRF: The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been constituted under Section 44 of the DM Act, 2005 by up-gradation/conversion of eight
62 Institutional Framework standard battalions of Central Para Military Forces i.e. two battalions each from Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to build them up as a specialist force to respond to disaster or disaster like situations. 2.16.2 The eight battalions (1 battalion comprised of nearly 1000 person) of NDRF consist of 144 specialised teams trained in various types of natural, man made and non-natural disasters. 72 of such teams are designed to cater to the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) calamities besides natural calamities. Each NDRF battalion consists of 1149 personnel organised in 18 teams comprising of 45 personnel, who are being equipped and trained for rendering effective response to any threatening disaster situation or disaster, both natural and man made. All these eight battalions are being trained in natural disasters while four of them are being additionally trained for handling CBRN disasters. The composition of such battalions may be visited at www.ndmindia.nic.in 2.16.3 Based on vulnerability profile of different regions of the country, these specialist battalions have been presently stationed at the following eight places as may be seen from the map in Figure 2.6. Figure 2.6: Location of NDRF Battalions NDRF BNS – LOCATIONS
PATNA BHATINDA BHUBANESHWAR (Mundali) GR. NOIDA
GUWAHATI
KOLKATA VADODARA VIJAYAWADA PUNE (Talegaon)
CHENNAI (Arakkonam) LEGEND
BNs / Two more Battalions Approved CBRN BNs (to be raised by Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB)) New Raisings
63 Disaster Management in India
The disaster specialization, location and the details of the parent force may be seen from the Figure 2.7.
Figure 2.7: Details of the NDRF Battalions Sl. No. Battalion Parent Force Location State For Natural Disaster and CBRN emergencies (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) (i) 4th CISF Arakkonam Chennai (ii) 8th ITBP Greater Noida Uttar Pradesh (iii) 2nd BSF Barasat Kolkatta (iv) 5th CRPF Pune Maharastra Natural Disasters (i) 3rd CISF Mundali Orissa (ii) 7th ITBP Bhatinda Punjab (iii) 1st BSF Guwahati Assam (iv) 6th CRPF Gandhinagar Gujarat
2.16.4 The Government of India has approved the raising of two additional battalions of National Disaster Response Force by upgradation and conversion of one battalion each of Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force to be located in the states of Bihar (Bihata, Patna) and Andhra Pradesh (Vijaywada) respectively. The administrative approval for raising the two battalions was issued on 13-10- 2010.
2.16.5 There are different training institutes where such forces are given the basic and specialised training. The details of such training programmes are given in Chapter 7 of Capacity Development.
2.17 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) The states/UTs have also been advised to set up their own Specialist Response Force for responding to disasters on the lines of National Disaster Response Force vide Ministry of Home Affairs letter dated 26th July 2007 and 8th March, 2011. The Central Government is providing assistance for training of trainers. The state governments have been also advised to utilise 10 percent of their State Disaster Response Fund and Capacity Building Grant for the procurement of search and rescue equipment and for training purposes of the Response Force.
2.18 Civil Defence 2.18.1 Aims and Objectives of Civil Defence Act: The Civil Defence Policy of the GoI until 1962 was confined to making the states and UTs conscious of the need of civil protection measures and to keep in readiness civil protection plans for major cities and towns under the Emergency Relief Organisation (ERO) scheme. The legislation on Civil Defence (CD) known as Civil Defence Act was enacted in 1968 which is in force throughout the country. 2.18.2 The Act defines CD and provides for the powers of Central Government to make rules for CD, spelling out various actions to be taken for CD measures. It further stipulates for constitution of CD corps, appointment of members and officers, functions of members etc. The Act has since been amended in 2010 to cater to the needs of disaster management
64 Institutional Framework so as to utilise the services of Civil Defence volunteers effectively for enhancement of public participation in disaster management related activities in the country.
2.18.3 The CD Organisation is raised only in such areas and zones which are considered vulnerable to enemy attacks. The revision and renewal of categorised CD towns is done at regular intervals, with the level of perceived threat or external aggression or hostile attacks by anti- national elements or terrorists to vital installations.
2.18.4 Compendium of instructions – CD deals very briefly with all different aspects of CD in India and includes references to important policy letters including legal aspects. It was first published in February 1969. Subsequently, its scope was enlarged by including the Master Plan of Civil Defence, Civil Defence Act 1968, training courses conducted at NCDC, Nagpur, training syllabus of states.
2.18.5 Role of Civil Defence: During times of war and emergencies, the CD organisation has the vital role of guarding the hinterland, supporting the armed forces, mobilising the citizens and helping civil administration for saving life and property, minimising damage, maintaining continuity in production centers and raising public morale. The concept of CD over the years has shifted from management of damage against conventional weapons to also include threat perceptions against nuclear weapons, biological and chemical warfare and environmental disasters.
2.18.6 Three tier structure as given below has been created to formulate CD policy and for coordinating and supervising measures to implement it. t $JWJM%FGFODF"EWJTPSZ$PNNJUUFFVOEFSUIF$IBJSNBOTIJQPG6OJPO)PNF.JOJTUFS t $JWJM%FGFODF$PNNJUUFFVOEFSUIF$IBJSNBOTIJQPG)PNF4FDSFUBSZBOE t $JWJM%FGFODF+PJOU1MBOOJOH4UBò$PNNJUUFFVOEFSUIF$IBJSNBOTIJQPG%JSFDUPS(FOFSBM Civil Defence. 2.18.7 Eligibility to become volunteers: (a) A person who intends to apply for appointment to a Civil Defence Corps must fulfill the following conditions:- t UPCFBDJUJ[FOPG*OEJBPS#IVUBOPSPG/FQBM
t UPIBWFDPNQMFUFEUIFBHFPGZFBSTQSPWJEFEUIBUUIJTBHFMJNJUNBZCFSFMBYFEBUUIF discretion of the competent authority up to a maximum of three years for any branch or category of the Corps,
t UPIBWFQBTTFEBUMFBTUUIFQSJNBSZTUBOEBSE UIBUJTUPTBZ UIFGPVSUIDMBTTBOEUIJT condition may be relaxed by the Controller at his discretion.
(b) A person shall not be entitled to be appointed to the Corps unless he is found to be physically fit and mentally alert. (c) Any service in the National Volunteer Force and in the armed forces of the Union shall be a special qualification
65 Disaster Management in India
(d) Such persons shall ordinarily serve in a voluntary and honorary capacity and they are required to perform the duties assigned to them by order under the Civil Defence Regulations, 1968 or under any other law for the time being in force, for the protection of persons and property against hostile attack (e) A candidate who has been accepted for appointment to the Corps shall be formally enrolled in such manner as the Controller may, by order, determine and at the time of enrollment shall make an oath or affirmation before such officer as the Controller may, by order, appoint. 2.18.8 Directorate General of Civil Defence (DGCD): DGCD was established in 1962 with its headquarters at New Delhi in the Ministry of Home Affairs to handle all policy and planning matters related to Civil Defence, Home Guards and Fire Services including the functioning of National Civil Defence College, and National Fire Service College, Nagpur. An IPS officer in the rank of Director General of Police heads the organisation. He has dual charge of D.G. National Disaster Response Force and Civil Defence (DG, NDRF & CD). 2.18.9 Civil Defence Setup in the States: The state government for the purpose of coordinating the activities of the Controllers of Civil Defence within the state appoints a Director of Civil Defence and also may constitute, for any area within the state a body of a person to be called the Civil Defence Corps. Out of 225 towns from 35 states notified as CD towns, currently the CD organisations at only 130 towns have been activated. Each town has nucleus of four Permanent Staff along with 400 CD Volunteers for a two lakhpopulation. It is expected that each state will have one CD Training Institute with permanent strength of 36 personnel, five vehicles and other equipments. The District Magistrate is designated as a Controller for CD Towns. The present strength of CD volunteers is 5.72 lakhs, out of which 5.11 lakhs are already trained. The target strength of CD volunteers has been fixed at 13 lakhs based on the population of CD towns as per 2001 census. In accordance with the directions issued by Hon’ble Home Minister, one member high powered committee was constituted on 7th February, 2006 under the chairmanship of one of the member of NDMA to analyse the existing functions of Civil Defence Organisations and suggest changes required to enlarge its role to include Disaster Management. 2.18.10 Civil Defence at district level: The state government may appoint a person, not being in its opinion, below the rank of a District Magistrate to be known as the “Controller”. Under certain conditions, the state government may also appoint a Deputy Controller of Civil Defence in appropriate rank up to that of Deputy Collector, but not inferior to that of a Sub- Divisional Magistrate. 2.19 Fire Services 2.19.1 Fire services are mandate of the Municipal Bodies as estimated in item 7 of Schedule 12 under Article 243W of the constitution. The structure across is not uniform. Presently Fire prevention and Fire Fighting Services are organized by the concerned States and UTs. Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India, renders technical advice to the States and UTs and Central Ministries on Fire Protection, Fire Prevention and Fire Legislation. 2.19.2 The Government of India in 1956, formed a “Standing Fire Advisory Committee” under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The mandate of the committee was to examine the technical problems
66 Institutional Framework relating to Fire Services and to advise the Government of India for speedy development and upgradation of Fire Services all over the country. This committee had representation from each State Fire Services, as well as the representation from Ministry of Home, Defence, Transport, Communication and Bureau of Indian Standards. This Committee was renamed as “Standing Fire Advisory Council” (SFAC) during the year 1980.
2.19.3 Fire Services in Gujarat, Chhatisgarh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh excluding Indore are under the respective concerned Municipal Corporations. In other remaining States it is under the Home Department. While some States have enacted their own Fire Act, some others have not. As on today, there is no standardization with regard to the scaling of equipment, the type of equipment, or the training of their manpower. In each state it has grown according to the initiatives taken by the States and the funds provided for the Fire Services.
2.19.4 Presently the only Basic Life Line of Fire & Emergency Services which is fully committed to the common public, is the Municipal in some states and State Fire Services. The Airport Authority, Big Industrial Establishments, CISF and Armed Forces, however also have their own Fire Services and many a times in case of need rush in aid to the local Fire Services. Apart from the lack of being a proper government department with a complete developmental plan, State Fire Services have their own organizational structure, administrative setup, funding mechanism, training facilities and equipments.
2.20 National Civil Defence College (NCDC), Nagpur The first Disaster Management Training Institution of the country was founded on 29th April 1957 at Nagpur as the Central Emergency Relief Training Institute (CERTI) to support the Emergency Relief Organisation of the Government of India. This Institute organised advanced and specialist training for revenue officials responsible for Disaster Relief Operations against any natural or manmade disaster. CERTI was renamed as National Civil Defence College on 1st April 1968. NCDC is mandated for conducting training courses for various groups of stakeholders. Details of training on capacity development are given in Chapter on Capacity Development
2.21 National Fire Service College (NFSC), Nagpur 2.21.1 The National Fire Service College was established in 1956 as a sub- ordinate establishment of Ministry of Home Affairs with the aim of providing training to the Fire Officers of the country in advanced techniques of fire fighting and rescue, and creating uniformity in the Fire Service organisations and their management across the country. NFSC began its activities with only one course; later, considering the needs of the country, industrialisation and growth of Indian industry, had added many more courses to its curriculum to give the fire training a professional outlook. 2.21.2 The college has so far trained 15197 fire officers in the country. Being a residential college, National Fire Service College (NFSC), has its own hostel facilities with well furnished accommodation for about 200 trainees at a time.
2.21.3 The college awards certificates, diplomas, and advanced diplomas on successful completion of courses. These are recognized by the state, central government, the public and
67 Disaster Management in India
private sectors and the business community as well. In addition, the diploma and advanced diploma of NFSC are also recognised by the Union Public Service Commission for appointment in the middle management cadre.
2.22 Home Guard 2.22.1 Role: The role of Home Guards is to serve as an auxiliary to the police in the maintenance of law and order, internal security and help the community in any kind of emergency such as air-raid, fire, cyclone, earthquake, epidemic etc. They are also expected to help the police in maintenance of communal harmony, assist the administration in protecting weaker sections, participate in socio-economic and welfare activities and perform Civil Defence duties. 2.22.2 Types: Home Guards are of two types – rural and urban besides in Border States, Border Wing Home Guards Battalions at national level. Border Wing, Home Guard serve as an auxiliary to the Border Security Force. The total strength of Home Guards is 5, 73,793 against which the raised strength is 5,00,410. The organisation is spread over all states and UTs except in Kerala. Eighteen Border Wing Home Guards (BWHG) Battalions have been raised in the border states viz. Punjab (6 Bns.), Rajasthan (4 Bns.), Gujarat (4Bns.) and one of Bn each. for Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and West Bengal to serve as an auxiliary to Border Security Force for preventing infiltration on the international border and oastalc areas, guarding of vital Installations and lines of communication in vulnerable areas at the time of external aggression. 2.22.3 Statutory Mechanisms and Service Condition: Home Guards are raised under the Home Guards Act and Rules of the states and UTs. They are recruited from a cross section of the population such as doctors, engineers, lawyers, private sector organisations, college and university students, agricultural and industrial workers, etc. who give their spare time to the organisation for betterment of the community. Home Guards are provided free uniform, duty allowances and awards for gallantry, distinguished and meritorious services. Members of Home Guards with three year service in the organisation are trained to assist police in maintenance of law and order, prevention of crime, anti-decoity measures, border patrolling, prohibition, flood relief, fire-fighting, election duties and social welfare activities. The Ministry of Home Affairs formulates the policy regarding role, target, raising, training, equipping, establishment and other important matters of Home Guards Organisation. 2.23 Interface between the Ministries for disaster Management 2.23.1 The interface between stakeholders and the disaster management framework is permanent, backed by legislative measures, decisions, such as those taken for establishment of the bodies and committees for managing disasters and the government orders to execute these decisions. These decisions or measures direct the composition of the structure by identifying the stakeholders to be involved in the disaster management framework. The role to be performed by each stakeholder is in the evolving stage and needs to be defined within different SOPs. Thus, while the involvement of stakeholders in the interface is mandated and permanent, the nature of interface is guided by the expertise or relevance of the stakeholder to the disaster management framework. 2.23.2 The expertise based interfaces emerge when the stakeholders serve as ‘service providers’ to the disaster management framework. For instance, the institutions under Ministry of Earth
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Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, that is, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and Central Water Commission (CWC) respectively, provide information on the weather and climatic parameters and the potential hazards and threats to the nodal management authority. Further, these organizations are involved with disaster planning activities – flood zonation and flood plain management in case of CWC, and hazard mapping and database generation in case of IMD. The organizations and institutions under the Department of Space provide research and technical support by monitoring the weather elements and facilitating satellite based communication, and also undertaking activities such as land use mapping and hazard zoning. 2.23.3 The framework which emerges from above discussion may be summarised in a flow chart form as given in Figure 2.8. Figure 2.8: Interface among the stakeholders, leading to the development of society Framework – at A Glance R P E O Poli cal Economy S L O Development Environment & CC I U C R Y Disaster Risk Assessment ,Reduc on and Management C E S U Mi ga on &Adapta